Chapter 2 — After My Mother-in-law Bought Me a 3 Million Yuan Death Insurance Package

"It's her, Tham Tu Lan. I heard she has a strange disease and probably won't live much longer."

"Is it real or fake? It doesn't look the same."

"Vuong Thuy Hoa said so. She also said that's why they divorced, for fear of implicating Dai Quan."

I stopped. Aunt Trieu was peeling peanuts and looked up to see me, her lips twitched but she didn't speak anymore. On the contrary, sister-in-law Luu was more courageous and even smiled at me.

"Tu Lan, if you have an illness, you have to treat it early."

“I'm not sick.”

"Mother-in-law... no, your ex-mother-in-law said your face has been very bad lately, and she even went to the district hospital to get checked."

"She's talking nonsense. I've never been to the district hospital."

Some of them looked at each other. That "sick person refuses to admit" look sent chills down my spine. I tightened my bag in my hand, didn't explain any further, turned around and left. The whispers behind me followed me far away, buzzing like flies. Returning to the homestay, the garden was empty, not a single guest. If it were normal, at this hour there would definitely be a few tables of guests from town coming to fish or climb mountains sitting under the grape arbor waiting to eat. I opened my phone to check the order system. This whole week... there hasn't been a single application. Last week, someone asked in the comments:

“Does the owner have an infectious disease?”

I threw the phone hard on the table. Vuong Thuy Hoa not only bought insurance for me. She is still destroying my livelihood little by little. She wanted the whole village to believe that I was sick. Believe I won't live much longer. So that if one day I really have an "accident", everyone will think that I died of illness, because of bad fate. No one will suspect. I sat by the stove, watching the fire burn for a long time. Then I did something. I reopened the insurance company's customer service phone number in my phone and took a screenshot of the call history. Then take out a photo of the confirmation of acceptance to participate in insurance and save it separately in another album. From today onwards, everything... I must keep the evidence. On the third day, I went to the village committee to ask for confirmation that I had never been to the district hospital. Tieu Chu, a clerical officer in the village, is sitting and eating cup noodles. As soon as he saw me walk in, the chopsticks in his hand stopped in mid-air.

“Miss Tu Lan… what are you doing here?”

"I came to ask for a certificate, proving that in the last half year I have never left the village for more than three days."

Tieu Chu put down his chopsticks, his face looked a bit strange.

"This... it's not that I don't want to give it to you, but... yesterday Aunt Vuong Thuy Hoa came here. She said you've been mentally unstable lately, and told us not to listen to your nonsense."

I looked at him and asked word by word:

“Where is my mental instability?”

"She said she always thought someone wanted to harm her, suspicious of ghosts. She said her illness must have affected her brain."

Tieu Chu stepped back a bit.

"Sister Tu Lan, I don't mean it like that, but after all, she is an elder..."

I didn't say another word. Just turned around and left the village committee. This move by Vuong Thuy Hoa went even sooner than I thought. She blocked all avenues for me to prove myself. If I say I'm not sick, she'll say I have mental problems. I wanted to ask for confirmation, but she immediately covered my mouth first. If If I reported to the police that someone forged my signature, she could completely turn around and say I was paranoid. An old country woman... Since when did she become so secretive? On the way back to the homestay, I passed by the Tran family's old house. The big door opened wide. There was laughter inside. I unconsciously glanced at it. Vuong Thuy Hoa is sitting on a rattan chair in front of the main door, crossing her legs and biting melon seeds. Standing next to her was a man wearing a jacket, Tran Dai Quan's cousin — Tran Nhi Ho. Two people are talking about something. Seeing me pass by the gate, Vuong Thuy Hoa's eyes swept over. She did not avoid it. On the contrary, he smirked at me. That smile made every bone in my body cold. I immediately walked faster. As soon as I arrived at the homestay, I saw a black car parked in front of the door. The license plate is not local. A middle-aged man wearing a white shirt was standing in front of the gate looking into the yard.

“Excuse me, is Ms. Tham Tu Lan here?”

"It's me. Who are you?"

The man took out a business card from his pocket and gave it to me.

"My name is Trieu, I work in the risk control department of Vinh An insurance company. Today I want to find you to verify some things."

I received the business card. On it are printed the words "Trieu Loi", the position is:

“Compensation investigation specialist”.

Before I could speak, he continued to say:

"Miss Tham, recently our company received an application for pre-approval for compensation, related to you. According to the process, I need to come to investigate and verify. Is it convenient to come in and talk?"

Application for prior compensation review. She has already started preparing to receive the insurance money. I'm not dead yet... But she had already silently done the procedure in advance. I invited Trieu Loi onto the field. This is the first outsider to proactively come to the door. The first person didn't come to see my joke. I don't know if he is an enemy or a friend. But I decided to take a gamble. I made him a cup of tea and the two of us sat under the grape arbor.

“Mr. Trieu, what do you mean by the application for prior compensation review…?”

Trieu Loi opened a file and pushed it in front of me.

"Five days ago, Ms. Vuong Thuy Hoa submitted to our company a set of compensation approval documents. It stated that the insured person - that is, she - is currently suffering from end-stage liver cancer, with an estimated life span of no more than three months. She also submitted the diagnosis and hospitalization records of the District People's Hospital."

I looked at that diagnosis paper. My name was clearly written on it.

“End-stage liver cancer.”

“Multifocal metastasis.”

“Palliative Treatment Recommendations.”

My hands were shaking.

"I don't have liver cancer. I've never been to the District People's Hospital. All of this is fake."