Chapter 17 — Cartographer of Lost Roads

During the whole week of waiting, Mr. Tuyen could hardly get a full night's sleep. Ms. Bich Nguyen told Van Khue that she often heard him tossing and turning continuously during the night. One day he even woke up early at four in the morning, sitting quietly on the porch watching the sky gradually brighten, his hand clutching the old photo that Van Khue brought back to him after the trip.

The day Mrs. Nhai went to Kim Xuyen, the whole family got up early, cleaned the house more neatly than usual, even though no one told anyone, as if preparing to welcome the most precious guest in their lives. Mrs. Bich Nguyen cooked a hearty tray of rice, while Mr. Lam kept going in and out restlessly, constantly looking at the clock, counting down the time until the bus carrying Duy Khanh, Ms. Thoa and Ms. Nhai arrived.

Mr. Tuyen sat on a familiar rattan chair on the porch early in the morning, but this time, instead of his usual quiet appearance, he had a rare restlessness, his hands clasped together and then let go, his eyes constantly looking towards the alley.

Nearly ten o'clock in the morning, the sound of a taxi stopping in front of the house rang out, and the whole family stood up simultaneously. Van Khue ran to open the gate and saw Duy Khanh helping a small old lady get out of the car, her body trembling not only because of her age but also because of the emotions welling up in her heart.

Mrs. Nhai walked into the yard, her eyes searched everywhere, then stopped at Mr. Tuyen standing silently on the steps, his legs seemed unsteady, he had to cling to the porch pillar to stay upright.

"Mr. Tuyen," Mrs. Nhai called, her voice choked, barely audible.

"Jasmine," Mr. Tuyen replied. It was just a soft call, but it contained thirty years of longing, regret, and desire to say it but never had the chance.

The whole yard was silent for a long moment, no one dared to move, as if afraid that even a small sound would be enough to break that sacred moment. Then Mrs. Nhai took shaky steps toward him, and Mr. Tuyen also walked down the steps. The two brothers, now two gray-haired old men, hugged each other in the middle of the yard, crying uncontrollably.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry for thinking unfairly of you," Mrs. Nhai sobbed in her brother's arms. "I thought you had forgotten me, abandoned me, but I didn't expect you still kept this photo all these years."

"No, I'm the one who should apologize to you," Mr. Tuyen said, his voice cracking with emotion. "I was cowardly, scared, didn't dare to look for you, leaving you to suffer alone for so many years. I'm sorry, I'm sorry to my whole neighborhood, for not having the courage to protect what I should have protected."

The two brothers hugged each other and cried in the middle of their yard, no one paying attention to the people around them who stood silently watching, everyone's eyes were red. Van Khue stood next to Duy Khanh, holding his hand tightly. Both of them quietly looked at the moment of reunion that they had helped create, their hearts filled with an indescribable happiness.

After the initial excitement subsided, the whole family invited Ms. Nhai and Ms. Thoa into the house and sat around the tray of rice that Ms. Bich Nguyen had prepared early. Mrs. Nhai sat next to her brother, their two old hands still holding each other tightly as if they were afraid that if they let go, they would lose each other again.

"Do you remember when you were little, every time you came home to visit, you used to bring me some coconut candy bought in the province?" Mrs. Nhai asked, her voice was calmer, mixed with a nostalgic smile through tears that had not yet completely dried.

"Remember," Mr. Tuyen replied, a rare smile also appeared on his lips, even though his eyes were still red. "I always hide one pill, save it to eat later, and don't eat it all at once like the other kids in the neighborhood."

"I'm still the same now, brother," Mrs. Nhai smiled, her voice much lighter. "Save everything that's delicious. You can't bear to eat it all at once."

The story between the two brothers gradually became warmer, mixed with the remaining tears were laughter of relief as they reviewed childhood memories together in Van Dang - the summer afternoons when they sneaked out of bed to go fishing with the children in the neighborhood, the full moon nights when the whole family gathered around a small tray of food under the moonlight, the sound of lanterns hitting each other every time someone went to the river to check the nets in the middle of the night.

"Do you remember the Brindle?" Mrs. Nhai suddenly asked, her eyes lit up. "My family had a golden dog at that time. Every time I came home, it would be so happy, it would run around the yard and bark loudly."

"Remember, how can I forget," Mr. Tuyen smiled, his voice filled with nostalgia. "It's very smart, it knows how to distinguish the footsteps of each person in the house. Later, when I went to school far away, every time I came back, before I could even enter the gate, it would bark happily from the other end of the alley."

"Ven passed away a few months before the clearance. He was old and sick to death," Mrs. Nhai continued, her voice dropping. "At that time, I cried for several days. I didn't expect that shortly after, the whole neighborhood that raised him would no longer be there."

The story about the little dog made the whole dining table relax for a moment, but then Mrs. Nhai took the initiative to stir up the atmosphere, continuing to tell about mischievous games in her childhood, about the times when the two brothers ran away from their parents to bathe in the river and were punished to kneel, about the fragrant smell of grilled rice paper every cold winter night. Laughter gradually overwhelmed the tears, the small house on Nguyen Trai Street, for the first time after many stressful weeks, was filled with a truly warm, reunited atmosphere.

Ms. Bich Nguyen and Ms. Thoa, two women who were strangers just meeting each other for the first time that day, quickly became close, cleaning dishes and chopsticks together and chatting in the kitchen like long-time acquaintances. Mr. Lam, calling Mrs. Nhai "aunty" for the first time in his life, was so flustered that he didn't get used to it, making the whole family laugh and tease, making the atmosphere even more bustling.

Mr. Lam sat quietly listening to the story of his father and the aunt he had never known until a few weeks ago. His face was mixed with many emotions - both emotional and a bit sad when thinking of the fact that he had missed the opportunity to know this aunt for a long time. But seeing his father, for the first time in many years, actually smiling freely, truly living with his true self, he also felt a lot more relieved.

In the afternoon, when everyone was less emotional, Mrs. Nhai turned to ask Van Khue, her voice became more serious. "Tell me more about the construction project on the old Van Dang land. I heard Thoa briefly tell it, but I want to understand more clearly, because that is also my hometown, where my whole family is born."

Van Khue and Duy Khanh spent the rest of the afternoon telling Mrs. Nhai the whole story — from discovering the erased map, to the meeting with Mrs. Net, Mr. Thinh, and now the Kim Xuyen Riverside project that is preparing to be built right on the old land of their neighborhood. Mrs. Nhai listened attentively, occasionally shaking her head. Her eyes shone with silent indignation when she heard that Mr. Diep Khac Bon's son was now the direct beneficiary of the very land that took away her childhood and homeland.

"If you need me to testify, I'm willing," Mrs. Nhai said, her voice sharp. "She has been silent long enough. At this age, she has nothing to fear anymore. She only hopes that before she closes her eyes, she will see justice for her neighborhood, for the deceased, and for her brother, who had to carry that burden all his life."

That night, when Mrs. Nhai settled down in the small living room, which was tidied up for her to rest for a few days before returning, Van Khue stood on the porch with Duy Khanh, looking up at the starry night sky, her heart filled with a feeling of both contentment and stronger determination than ever.

"We have done a great thing," Duy Khanh said softly, standing next to her. "But I think, this is just the beginning. The most difficult part, facing Hai Nguyen Group, with Mr. Diep Nhat Binh, is still ahead."

Van Khue nodded, looking into the distance, where the sparkling lights of Kim Xuyen city stretched all the way to the riverbank, where she knew, somewhere in the darkness, an ancient banyan tree was still standing quietly waiting, like the last witness of a lost fishing village, waiting for the day the truth would be returned to its rightful place.

"No matter how difficult it is, I will go to the end," she said, her voice determined. "My grandfather, Mrs. Net, Mr. Thinh, Mrs. Nhai, they were all brave enough to tell the truth. I can't be the only one who hesitates right now."

Duy Khanh turned to look at her, his eyes filled with admiration and a deep affection that he had never put into words. He gently took her hand and squeezed it gently, a simple gesture but containing so many things he wanted to say. "I believe you can do it. And I will always be here, accompanying you to the end, no matter how difficult the road ahead is."

The two of them stood silently together under the night sky, no more words were needed, only the sound of the late night wind blowing through the trees in the yard, carrying the familiar humidity of a riverside city preparing to enter a new chapter, full of challenges but also full of hope.