Chapter 4 — A Diary, A Fallen City

He suddenly raised his head and looked towards Chu Hieu Hieu, his eyes flared up with an unprecedented emotion, both despair and anger.

"Chu Hieu Hieu! What else are you hiding from us?! Do you want to drag this whole family to die with you?!"

He screamed, jumped up from the floor, and rushed to grab Chu Hieu Hieu's hair. The air in the room immediately exploded. Trieu Xuan Mai screamed and rushed into the can, Chu Hieu Hieu's crying, Chu Minh Khai's cursing, all mixed together, so deafening that it made my head pound. I stood there, quietly watching the drama before my eyes, no more waves in my heart. At that moment, my phone vibrated again. I walked out to the balcony and listened. On the other end of the line was a young girl's voice, trembling and cautious:

“Please… may I ask… is that Ms. Hua Tinh?”

I paused a bit: "That's right, who are you?"

"I'm Luu Vy... I'm Zhou Xiaoxiao's classmate. I... I invested in the project she said, ten thousand yuan... now I can't contact her anymore... I heard you're her sister-in-law, do you know where she is? My parents still don't know about this... I'm about to not be able to stand it anymore..."

The girl's voice choked, carrying sobs. I hung up and went back to the living room. The chaos is not over yet. I went to the tea table, picked up the notebook, flipped to a blank page, picked up the pen and wrote down two words.

“Liu Vy, 100,000.”

Then I raised my head and looked at the three people struggling with each other.

“Shut up.”

My voice wasn't loud, but it was enough to make them stop all at once. I held up the notebook.

"Just now, another 'creditor' of Zhou Xiaoxiao called me. A classmate was cheated out of 100,000 yuan by her."

“As of now… the hole has become 550,000 yuan.”

550,000 yuan. That number was like a heavy rock thrown straight into the living room, forcing a dead silence. Chu Minh Khai let go of the hand holding his sister's hair, his whole body seemed to have been drained of strength. Trieu Xuan Mai opened her mouth and did not close it for a long time. Only confusion and fear remained in her eyes. Chu Hieu Hieu also stopped crying and stared at the notebook in my hand, as if seeing a death sentence.

“Not yet.”

I say one more sentence. All eyes immediately turned to me. I took out my phone and opened a recording. In a noisy mahjong shop, a rough man's voice rang out:

"Chu Hieu Hieu? You know, that girl used to borrow two hundred thousand from me! She said she was doing a big business and had high profits, so I lent it. What? Did she run away?"

Another voice chimed in:

"Not only you, he also borrowed one hundred and fifty thousand from me. He said his brother opened a company and lacks capital to turn around. Doesn't his brother work at a big company? Why is he short of money?"

"Who knew! Look at how young she is, she dares to play so big!"

The recording is not long, but each sentence is like a knife. High interest loan, 200,000 yuan. Fooled an acquaintance, 150,000 yuan. Plus 380,000 yuan borrowed online before, along with 100,000 yuan from classmates. That hole… is no longer 450,000, nor 550,000 anymore. It's a number that they don't dare to think about. 830,000 yuan. Chu Minh Khai's legs softened and he fell to the ground once again. This time, he didn't even have the strength to scream. Trieu Xuan Mai looked at her daughter, muttering like a lost soul: "Karma... what karma..." Chu Hieu Hieu completely collapsed. His face was pale, his body staggered as if on the verge of death fall.

“No… not…” she weakly defended, “I… I can pay… just that project…”

“The project has collapsed.” I coldly interrupted, "The money you threw there, you can't get a penny back. Now you owe 830,000 yuan in real money."

I walked in front of her and held out my phone. On the screen is the file lawyer Phuong just sent, information of each creditor, loan papers, and transfer history. Complete, irrefutable evidence.

“Zhu Xiaoxiao, now you have two paths.”

"First, turn yourself in. Explain everything to the police. I will let lawyer Phuong act as your defense, trying to reduce the crime. But going to jail... is unavoidable."

"Second," I looked straight into her eyes, speaking slowly, "continue to hide. At that time, these creditors will come here one by one, find your mother, find your brother's company. The tricks of loan sharking... you probably understand better than me."