Chapter 12 — A Promise At The Cable Car Station

The bypass to the lower station passes through an empty house where the maintenance team used to rest after the night shift. Tu opened the door with the spare key. Inside there are wooden tables, an oil stove and a battery-operated radio. Mr. Khang was placed on the couch, while Mai examined his wound. Duy closed the window and pulled the curtains.

“We need to wait for the rescue team,” he said.

“The captain will find us,” Tu replied.

“I sent the location to Mrs. Nam.”

Linh placed the tin box on the table. She didn't want it in her pocket while everyone was trying to save Mr. Khang. On the lid, the left corner dent is clearly visible under the light.

Duy checked the lock. “Not open here.”

“We already have two half tickets.”

"Three people were injured, one person was arrested, and at least one group was in pursuit. These are not conditions for opening evidence."

Linh looked at him. "I know."

“But you want to open it.”

“I want to know what my father signed.”

Mr. Khang opened his eyes. “Khai did not sign for money.”

Linh returned. “Do you know?”

"He signed because he thought that if his name was not on the paper, the bank would demand the entire advance from Duy's family."

“But he still let Duy's father pay.”

“He thought he could fix it once he found a counterpart.”

“It's been twelve years.”

Mr. Khang coughed. Mai brought water. "After Mr. Khai transferred the money, he came to see me. He said Vinh had changed the appendix. He wanted to get the original from the weighing room."

“Why don't you take it?”

"Because the captain at that time locked the room. The person who kept the key was the project manager."

“That person's name?”

Mr. Khang looked at Duy. “Nguyen Minh Quang.”

Duy stiffened. “My father?”

"Your father is a storekeeper, not a manager. But he was called in because of the signature on the delivery receipt."

Linh opened the contract photo. The guarantor writes Nguyen Khai, the borrower writes Nguyen Minh Quang. “If Duy's father is the borrower, why is my father the guarantor?”

"Because Vinh separated two pages. The first page is the equipment confirmation. The next page is the loan document. Your father signed the first page, Linh's father signed the second page without knowing."

Duy squeezed the bridge of his nose. “Does my father know?”

“He knew after the money was transferred.”

“So why didn't you say anything?”

"He was afraid of being arrested for signing the papers without reading them. He was afraid that Duy and Mai would be kicked out of the house."

Mai looked up. “Dad once told me that he owed someone an apology.”

Linh opened the document bag and took out a small envelope she found in her father's remains. She hasn't shown it to anyone yet. On the envelope were the words "When you meet the person who holds the other half".

“My father left this behind.”

Duy looked at the envelope. “You haven't opened it yet?”

“I'm not sure I want to read.”

"Why?"

“Because if you knew I was going to meet you, that means you arranged a meeting that I didn't choose.”

Tu stood next to the door, not speaking.

Linh peeled off the edge of the envelope. Inside were two handwritten pages, the ink faded.

"Linh, if you can read it, it means the Van Lo line is about to close. I'm sorry for making you think the debt is your fault. I signed an addendum without reading it all. I thought I could keep the house for Duy's family by accepting the obligation. Then I found out that the person who edited the addendum was not Vinh, but there was no comparison copy to prove it."

Linh stopped. The following lines made her hands tremble.

"Duy's mother knew part of it. She wanted to make it public, but at that time Mai was still young and Duy had just started learning the trade. She was afraid that if she sued, the bank would immediately confiscate the house. Dad promised to find a way to redeem the papers. He couldn't do it. If you meet the person holding half the ticket, don't ask them to pay the debt on your behalf. Who. Ask why we all choose to be silent.”

The last page has only one sentence: “Don't open the box to get revenge. Open to return the correct name to the person who was deleted.”

Linh put the letter down. She didn't cry right away. She looked at the box, then looked at Duy. He was reading the lines she had just read, his face so calm that she knew he had used a lot of strength to keep it.

“My father knows,” Linh said.

“Perhaps.”

“My father knows.”

"Maybe."

“You both know, but let my mother pay.”

“My mother also knows some of it.”

Mai stood up. “Don't talk as if mom is at fault. She has no choice.”

“No one has a complete choice,” Linh said. “But everyone can say a part.”

Tu looked at the letter. “Your father wants to pay the right name. But if you open the box, the first name called is your father.”

Linh turned. “You knew?”

“I know Mr. Khai signed the appendix.”

“Since when do you know?”

“Since I was twenty years old. Vinh told me. He said if I told him, Duy's father would lose his house and his mother would be sued."

Duy stepped forward, his voice low. “Vinh used that to keep you quiet?”

"Correct."

“What about captain?”

“Partially know. He is the keeper of the original appendix.”

Linh looked at Tu. “So why did you help us?”

Tu looked towards the window. “Because Vinh is back. He did not want the papers corrected; he wanted to delete them. If he gets the box, everyone will continue to think Duy's father is the borrower and her father is the guarantor.”

“What do you want?”

“I want my father's name returned. He was fired for reporting a lack of equipment. People say he stole. He died without anyone apologizing.”

The atmosphere in the house was completely silent. Linh realized that everyone brought a dead person with them. She has a father, Duy has parents, Tu has a father who is called a thief. The box does not open a debt; it contains many different ways of silence.

Mai took the phone. “Mrs. Nam told the rescue team to arrive in twenty minutes.”

“We can wait,” Duy said.

“No,” Mr. Khang replied. “The captain knows the location.”

From the street, the sound of motorbikes echoed. Two lights appeared behind the trees and then turned off. The person in the car did not go into the house, just stood outside and observed.

Duy turned off the light. Linh put the letter in a waterproof bag. Tu checked the back door.

“There are two people,” he said.

“Vinh?” Duy asked.

“One is tall, one is short. Can't see clearly.”

Mr. Khang tried to sit up. “Don't go through the front door. There is a way down to the stream."

Mai held his hand. “I can't run.”

“I can tell.”

Linh looked at the box. “We need to get the box to where there are a lot of people.”

“Lower station,” Duy said.

“But what if they block the road?”

Tu opened the floorboard, revealing a cavity containing a zipper and an old map. “This road goes to the back of Mrs. Nam's shop.”

Duy looked at him. “You know too many ways.”

“Because I used to hide from people like them.”

They forced Mr. Khang onto a makeshift stretcher. Mai goes first, Tu carries the lamp, Linh holds the box, Duy follows. Before leaving home, Linh looked at the letter one more time. Her father's last sentence did not ask her for forgiveness. He only asked her to return the correct name.

The tunnel is low, the water reaches up to the knees. Each step echoed off the stone roof. Behind, the door was banged loudly. A male voice called:

“Linh, your father left behind a debt. You can't run away from it.”

Linh stopped.

Duy turned. “Don't listen.”

“He knows my name.”

“They read the records.”

“Or so my father once said.”

Duy gently held her elbow. “You are not the name on paper.”

Single sentence simple, but Linh found her feet moving on. From afar, the light of Mrs. Nam's restaurant appeared through the stone crack. Above the lower station, sirens rang continuously. Cabin 17 stopped in the middle of the route, and the safe was opened.

When they went to the back of the shop, Mrs. Nam was waiting. She looked at Mr. Khang, looked at the box and said:

“At 08:40, the person holding the second key will have to choose.”

“What to choose?” Duy asked.

Mrs. Nam pointed to the station. “Keep records or keep people.”

In the station platform, the captain was standing next to a bank car. In his hand is the key to the safe, and behind him, a person wearing a raincoat with a red string is holding a file.

The captain saw them first and immediately walked out of the station. "Take Mr. Khang to the medical room. Let me seal the box."

“No,” Duy replied.

“I am the person in charge of the line.”

Linh walked next to Duy. “And you are the second key holder.”

The captain looked at her, his eyes landing on the box. “Your father gave it to me.”

“My father no longer has the authority to deliver.”

The man in the raincoat behind him stepped forward. Under the light, Linh realized it was the man in the fake cabin, Do Thanh Nam. He was no longer being held, but his wrists still had lock marks.

“I was asked to take the documents to the bank,” Nam said.

“Who asked?” Duy asked.

Nam looked at the captain. “Him.”

The captain tightened the key. “I just did the conservation procedure.”

“Preserve by giving records to the disputing party?” Linh asked.

No one answered. Ms. Nam pulled Mr. Khang into the shop, while Mai called the rescue team. 08:40 appears on the wall clock. Half of the ticket in Linh's bag touched the other half, making the sound of dry paper.

The captain turned to the station door. “If you don't hand over the box, I will block the entire route and report the evidence as stolen.”

Linh took out her phone and turned on the recording. “You just made it clear that you will use your executive power to keep the box.”

“I am protecting assets.”

“The box is not the property of the cable line.”

Linh looked at the people standing around the station platform: the operator, Ms. Nam, the rescue team who had just arrived, and a few people who heard the siren. Her father's words echoed: return the correct name to the person who was erased.

“Open the file in front of everyone,” she said. “If you have nothing to hide.”

The captain did not open. The man in the raincoat with the red string backed toward the car.

Tu blocked the way. “I'm not going anywhere.”

The other person raised his hand, revealing a triangle bracelet. “Tu, do you still think you can save your father by telling the old story?”

Tu turned pale. The captain turned to him, realizing something too late.

“You guys know each other,” Duy said.

The raincoat man laughed. “I was the one who took Vinh out of the line that year.”