Chapter 3 — 20 Million Yuan Buys Freedom, Not Marriage

That afternoon, Tran Hao sent a very long message. The words were extremely sincere, saying that he had thought a lot these past few days, admitting that he did not do it right, saying that the 20,000,000 yuan dowry was my father's passion, he should not target it. They also talked about adding their names to the house book and not mentioning them again, and in the future they will live kindly. The last sentence was: "Nim Niem, come to my house for dinner on Saturday. My mother said she will make your favorite braised ribs dish." I answered with one word: "Okay." Saturday, I went to Tran Hao's house. As soon as he entered the door, in the living room there were not only Tran Hao and his parents. There were three other people on the sofa. A middle-aged man wearing a neat suit and gold-rimmed glasses. A middle-aged woman with curly hair and two golden bracelets on her hands. There was a young girl in her mid-twenties, her head down, playing on her phone. Tran Hao came closer and held my hand.

"Nien Niem, let me introduce. These are my uncle, aunt and cousin, Tran Vu."

I nodded politely. The uncle stood up, looked at me from top to bottom and smiled.

"It's Tieu To, right? Tran Hao often mentions you. I heard your family's conditions are not bad?"

Before I could answer, Tran Hao's mother came out of the kitchen.

“Okay, let's sit down and eat first.”

At the dinner table, the atmosphere was very strange. Tran Hao's uncle constantly talked about investment, business, and projects. My aunt occasionally interjected a sentence: "Everything is expensive now, it's not easy for young people." When it was time for post-meal tea, he finally got straight to the point.

“Tieu To, I heard you just bought an apartment in the southern school district?”

I hold a cup of tea.

"Nice location. The average price in that area is about 140,000–150,000 yuan per square meter, right?"

“About that.”

“Really strong.” He pushed up his glasses, "Tieu To, I'm in the construction materials business. I have a very good project in hand. Do you know about the land in the north of the city? The government has just approved commercial land development, I have inside information, about to build a complex. Now contribute capital, half a year the profit will double."

He pulled out a stack of documents from his briefcase and pushed it towards me.

"Minimum capital is 2,000,000 yuan, no upper limit. If you are interested, I will give you a spot."

I put down the teacup. His eyes glanced around. Tran Hao bowed his head and did not speak. His mother smiled gently next to him. His father is flossing his teeth. The cousin was still focused on her phone.

“Tran Hao, is this what you arranged?”

He raised his head and quickly said:

"My uncle has good intentions, he's afraid of my money so it doesn't lose its value."

"I've already bought a house with my money, there's nothing left."

The uncle laughed.

"A house can be mortgaged for a bank loan. My house is valued at 20,000,000 yuan, so the mortgage is at least 12,000,000 yuan. Invest in my project, half a year later both capital and interest—"

“No need.”

I stood up.

"Thank you for your good intentions, but I have no intention of investing. Tran Hao, I'll leave first."

Leaving Tran Hao's apartment complex, I called Lam Van.

"Help me look up a person, Tran Hao's uncle, named Tran Quoc Cuong, said he was in the construction materials business."

Half an hour later, Lam Van texted back.

"Looked it up. Tran Quoc Cuong, 47 years old, owns a construction materials company, registered capital of 500,000 yuan, actual contributed capital of 0. Involved in three civil loan disputes, has been listed as an unreliable executor."

The executioner is not trustworthy. To put it bluntly, a debtor bad.

“What about the northern commercial land project he mentioned?”

"I asked my colleagues in that area. The land is indeed commercial land, but the investor is Van Dat, and has nothing to do with Tran Quoc Cuong."

I put the phone away. A guy with bad debt, holding a fake project, tried to trick me into taking out a mortgage loan. And Tran Hao stood next to him, from beginning to end without saying a word. That evening, Tran Hao called.

"Nien Niem, why did you leave without saying a word? My uncle feels very embarrassed."

“Is your uncle's face important, or is the fact that you lied to me important?”

"What? What did you lie to me?"

“Tran Hao, when was your car loan… finally paid off?”

The other end of the line was silent for three seconds.

“What do you mean?”

"Your old Volkswagen cost 80,000 yuan, paid in installments for two years, and was paid off a year ago. But you still took 4,000 yuan from me every month, for three years."

"Also, you borrowed 120,000 yuan from me last year, saying your father was hospitalized. That money was used as a deposit to buy a house in Hong Van area, in your mother's name. Is that right?"

The silence lasted longer.

“To Niem, will you investigate me?”

“You took my money without letting me investigate?”

"It's between us, why are you asking around? Who told you? Is it Lam Van? That kind of woman always likes to cause trouble—"

“Tran Hao, answer me.”

He took a deep breath.

"Okay, the car loan has been paid off. But I didn't say it was because I had other expenses. If I say it, you wouldn't understand. There's 120,000 yuan left - my father was indeed hospitalized, it just didn't cost that much. The rest my mother told me to save, and when we get married we'll be one family, what's the difference?"

“The difference is that you lied to me.”

"I didn't lie! I just didn't make it clear! To Niem, can you stop thinking like that? It's not easy for a man to go out—"

“Tran Hao, let's break up.”

The other end of the line immediately went silent.

"Farewell."

"To Niem, are you crazy? Just because of this small matter?"

"For you, it's a small matter. For me, it's not."

“Calm down, don't be impulsive—”

"I'm very calm. Goodbye."

I hung up. Blacklist his number. Then sitting down on the new floor, looking at the empty living room, suddenly felt much more relieved.