Chapter 18 — Cartographer of Lost Roads

The Monday after the reunion, Van Khue returned to work with a rare sense of relief, but that joy did not last long. As soon as she entered the office, she felt a strange atmosphere - her colleagues who usually greeted her warmly now seemed to avoid eye contact and whispered something when they saw her passing by.

Less than fifteen minutes later, she received a text message from Mr. Khai, asking her to meet him right in his office. Entering the room, Van Khue immediately noticed his unusually tense expression, completely different from the calm, peaceful attitude that she had become accustomed to during the four years of working under him.

“Close the door for me,” he said, his voice serious. When Van Khue sat down, he continued, "This morning I received a phone call from the Department's office, relayed from a superior unit, asking about an employee of the center arbitrarily investigating and collecting information related to the Kim Xuyen Riverside project. Do you know anything about this?"

Van Khue felt her heart cold. She did not expect that everything would spread to her superiors so quickly, and with such seriousness that it needed a direct phone call from the Department. "I... I did learn about the history of that area, but it was purely personal outside of work hours, not related to official work here," she replied, trying to keep her voice calm.

"Van Khue," Mr. Khai sighed, his voice softened somewhat but still full of worry. "I know you are a careful person and work responsibly. But you must understand, the Kim Xuyen Riverside project is not an ordinary project. It is one of the key projects that the city is particularly interested in, with the participation of large investors and complex relationships that a normal employee like us cannot fully predict the consequences if we accidentally touch it."

"Mr. Khai," Van Khue said, her voice also became more serious, "I found evidence that land was illegally confiscated from nearly two hundred households, the records were intentionally destroyed, and the person who directed that was the father of the current General Director of Hai Nguyen Group. Do you think I should stay silent in the face of such a truth?"

Mr. Khai was silent for a long time, looking down at the desk, his hands clasped together. "I'm not saying you're wrong," he said finally, his voice low. "Actually, I've suspected something was wrong with that area's records for a long time, since I first started working here, back in the two thousand years. But I've also learned that sometimes knowing a truth doesn't mean you're competent enough, or safe enough, to make it public. I have a family, a child going to school, I can't be as reckless as you."

Those words made Van Khue suddenly understand more about Mr. Khai's avoidance over the past few weeks - not that he didn't care, but that he lived with the same fear as her grandfather, just different in level and circumstances. She felt a sense of sympathy mixed with a stronger determination, not wanting to become another person who had to live in silence out of fear.

“I understand your situation,” she said, her voice softer. "I won't drag you into this, I'll take full responsibility for what I do after hours, in my own name. But I can't stop, Mr. Khai. This is no longer just about me."

Mr. Khai looked at her, his eyes mixed with worry and something like admiration. "I will try to protect you to the extent possible, but you have to be careful, Van Khue. From the tone of the phone call this morning, I feel that they are really worried, and worried people will often find ways to quell the source of that worry."

Before Van Khue left the room, Mr. Khai called her back, his voice lowered even more as if he was afraid someone would hear. "There's something I've never told anyone," he said. "When I first started working, there was an inventory of records throughout the center. I saw a list of 'sensitive' file codes that required limited access, which mentioned the east riverbank area. At that time, I was still young, didn't dare to ask more, just silently memorized. I thought, the disappearance of Van Dang's records was not a coincidence due to misplacement, but was likely put under 'special management' very early, maybe as early as nineteen years old. ten."

That detail made Van Khue more worried but also reinforced her belief that she was on the right track. If even within the archives industry there was a secret wariness of this area, it proved that the scale of the cover-up was much larger than she had ever imagined.

That afternoon, Duy Khanh called Van Khue, his voice was also full of worry. "I just received a call from a lawyer representing Hai Nguyen Group," he said. "They sent an official document, warning me about 'spreading false information that affects business reputation', asking me to immediately stop 'illegal investigation' activities related to the Kim Xuyen Riverside project, otherwise they will sue me in court for slander and infringement of intellectual property rights over project documents."

"Do they have any evidence that you spread false information?" Van Khue asked, her voice worried.

"Nothing specific, just vague warnings, more of a deterrent," Duy Khanh replied, his voice trying to stay calm even though he was clearly tense. "This is a familiar tactic of large companies when they want to nip an investigation in the bud — threaten a lawsuit, scare the other party into withdrawing before things go any further. I've had a similar situation happen once before, but that time on a much smaller scale."

"Are you scared?" Van Khue asked, her voice lowered.

There was a short silence on the other end of the line. "Yes," Duy Khanh answered honestly. "But I'm more afraid if I step back, letting what Mrs. Net, Mr. Thinh, your grandfather, and Mrs. Nhai courageously said fall into silence once again. We need to be more careful from now on, systematically record and store all evidence, consult with a lawyer to know our legal limits, but I have no intention of stopping."

That evening, Van Khue and Duy Khanh arranged to meet with Bao Nghi at the conservation center office to discuss solutions. Bao Nghi, as soon as she walked in, her face could not hide her worry. "I've been bothered too," she said, placing the phone on the table. "This afternoon, a strange account messaged me, claiming to be a 'media representative' of a certain unit, asking very carefully about the group 'Van Dang Memories', about the purpose of its activities, and then advised me to 'be careful when sharing unverified information related to the city's investment projects'. The tone was polite, but I got goosebumps reading it, clearly a disguised threat."

"They are looking for every loophole to apply pressure from many sides at the same time," Duy Khanh said, his voice serious, rubbing his chin in thought. "Isolating everyone one by one, making everyone feel alone and afraid, is the most effective tactic for a small group like us to disintegrate before we can do anything."

"So what should I do now?" Bao Nghi asked, her voice less than usual lively.

"First of all, no one can act alone anymore," Duy Khanh said, decisively. "Every contact, every meeting related to this case, we must inform each other. Second, I will contact a lawyer friend to ask for careful advice on legal limits, so that we know for sure where we stand and avoid falling into their trap. Third, perhaps it is time to think about making part of the story public, in a cautious, controlled form, so that if they intend to make things difficult for any of us, we will not The commentators also knew about this story, making it more difficult to silence them."

Van Khue nodded, although her heart was still filled with worries. She thought of her grandfather, Mrs. Net, Mr. Thinh, Mrs. Nhai - the people who had put their trust in her when telling their stories, and she understood that, now, the responsibility to protect the safety of all those witnesses was also weighing heavily on her shoulders, no less than the responsibility of finding the truth.

That evening's meeting ended quite late, leaving Van Khue with a new worry, but with it an even stronger determination. She realized that the fact that Hai Nguyen Group reacted so quickly and strongly only proved that they had something they really needed to hide, a truth big enough that they were willing to use legal measures and power pressure to silence those who were trying to overturn it. And now, more than ever, she understands that the fight to regain memories for Van Dang Hamlet is no longer a simple search for the truth, but has become a real confrontation, where both sides know clearly what they are betting on.