Chapter 5 — Behind Mother's Tears

"You said she lied." "So who signed these things?" My father stared at those papers, his eyes drooping little by little. The staff next to director Thieu took notes very quickly. Aunt Ton, Aunt Ma, and Aunt Wei sat below, each person's face more unsightly than the other. Especially Aunt Wei. My aunt's husband works in the security department and is most sensitive to paperwork. Auntie lowered her voice and said: "Every single account leaves a trace." "Chief Tong, you are treating the organization like your kitchen." My father suddenly turned to my mother. "Hua Lenh Nghi, you've known for a long time?" My mother calmly nodded. "Some of it is known." "So you deliberately set a trap?" "I didn't tell you to falsify the documents." "I didn't tell you to keep the money." "I also didn't tell you to give the woman who was holding you." Take your child home, then package her as a relative of a fallen comrade." She paused for a moment. "Tong Hoai Son, I just let you write clearly what you did yourself." As soon as this sentence came out, my father felt like he had been slapped. He finally understood. From the day Hua Nhu walked in the door, every time my mother cried, every time she backed away, every time she said "I'm afraid I can't speak clearly", it was not fear. It's a trap. He thought my mother couldn't leave him. I thought she didn't understand the procedures, didn't dare to find an organization, and didn't know how to look up the books. So he put his dirtiest hand in front of her, thinking she would help him clean it. As a result, my mother did not wipe. She used evidence to close that hand tightly. When the meeting ended, my father and Hua Nhu were taken to coordinate the investigation. As he passed me, he stopped. I don't look at him. His voice was hoarse: "Tong Tuyet, dad is my dad." "I can't really look at dad and die." I raised my head. At that moment, many images appeared in my mind. He taught me to ride a bike. He took me to buy candies. He said in front of outsiders that my daughter will definitely have a future in the future. But all of that couldn't cover up what he said to my mother when he brought Hua Nhu home: "What if I give up a step?" I didn't answer. My mother also did not answer for me. She just stood at the door of the hall, her face slightly white. After returning home, she took out a bus ticket from the drawer and placed it in front of me. "Han Phong's mother is in Hoe An district, three hundred miles away." "You may not go." "But if you want to see this through to the end, go yourself." I looked at the bus ticket, my fingers shaking. My mother said softly: "Tieu Tuyet, it's easy to hate someone." "The difficult thing is for you to know why you're standing there." Early the next morning, I got on the car to go to Hoe An district. Along the road, outside the car window are gray and white fields. I held my bag, inside I put the list of questions my mother had arranged. She didn't write out the answer for me. Write only three lines: Ask for clarification. See original. Don't cry for anyone. The Han family is located in an old brick house at the edge of the district. Han Phong's mother's family name is La, her hair is white, her back is slightly bent. When she opened the door and saw me, the old lady stopped in her tracks. After I made my point clear, the woman holding the door frame stood for a long time. "Has something happened to Tong Hoai Son finally?" She asked very softly. My heart sank. Turns out she wasn't unaware. It's just that no one listened to her. Mrs. La led me into the house. The house is very small, with pictures of Han Phong hanging on the wall. The young man in the photo is wearing a military uniform, with clean eyebrows and eyes. His sister, Tran Nhuoc Ninh, came out of the room, holding a stack of old letters and receipts in her hands. She's not much older than me, but she's scary thin. "We asked many times." She spread out the receipts. "For survivor's money, visitation money, support for future difficulties, the amount we received is not the same as in the document." "Every time Tong Hoai Son said the process was slow, telling us

Wait." She took out the letter Han Phong sent home when he was still alive. There was a letter in there that mentioned Hua Nhu. He said that he and Hua Nhu had long since stopped seeing each other. The reason was written very clearly: Hua Nhu criticized him for being on duty all year round and had already found someone else. The letter paper was a bit yellow. But each word looked like a knife. I asked Mrs. La: "Do you know that Hua Nhu used Han Phong's family status to receive benefits? "The old woman shook her head. Her eyes were red, but she didn't cry. "My son hasn't even gotten married yet." "He's gone, we don't ask anyone else to do anything for him." "But we can't throw dirty water on him." This sentence made my throat choke. I suddenly understood why my mother had to let me come. This is not just my family's scandal. It's not just about my father's affair. Han Phong has died. I can't open my mouth. So someone borrowed your name to steal money, borrowed your honor to hide bad things, and even put someone else's child behind your back. It was so disgusting. I took a photo, copied the entire original, and then went to town to stamp the confirmation.