Chapter 1 — Debt Note

My best friend suddenly passed away. I took the loan note she wrote before she passed away and went to her house to ask for money. The debt should be canceled when a person dies, but I refuse to let it go because I know they are hiding a secret from me. Her husband - a disabled person - dragged his mentally challenged daughter along, knelt down and begged me for mercy.

"Now it's a problem for me and my children to have enough to eat, we really don't have money to pay!"

But I still coldly said: "Debt must be paid, that's natural."

"The total of principal and interest is one million four hundred ninety-eight thousand. Today is the deadline. If you don't pay, I will destroy this house!"

1

The last sentence I almost shouted, making my best friend's daughter - Dao Dao - scared. The girl reflexively pulled herself back, then suddenly burst into tears. While crying, he carefully moved step by step towards me. Then he reached out his dirty hands and grabbed the hem of my shirt, his voice trembling:

“Aunt Le Le, why are you so fierce?”

"Dao Dao is very scared, please don't be like that, okay?"

Truong Tu Dong - Van Phuong's husband - also helplessly begged me:

“There really is no money!”

“You know very well the situation of my father and I, Le Le, you can't be like that!”

This statement made my anger flare up fiercely.

“What is it like to be human?”

“Debt must be paid, isn't that right?”

“If you are poor, do you have the right not to pay your debt?”

I calmly said these words, making Truong Tu Dong so angry that he blushed.

"Can you even hear what you say? Are you still human?"

He gasped: "Why do you make me pay this money?"

“The person who borrowed the money was Van Phuong, she is dead!”

“You find her and ask for it!”

Seeing the two of us arguing, Dao Dao immediately pushed me:

“Don't bully my dad!”

"Don't bully my dad! You evil!"

The girl clenched her fist, intending to punch me. But I was quicker, held her wrist tightly and pushed her to the ground. Dao Dao was caught off guard, her face hit the floor, leaving a long, bloody scratch. At first, the baby was bewildered, but after feeling the pain, she immediately cried. A shrill cry echoed throughout the room. I took the opportunity and coldly said:

"The person who borrowed the money is indeed Van Phuong, but on this loan note, Truong Tu Dong is the guarantor."

"Van Phuong is dead, is it realistic for me to go find her and ask for money?"

“So, I ask you for money, it's obvious.”

Truong Tu Dong leaned on the wheelchair, his whole body trembling with anger.

“You... you're not human!”

“You bullied my father and me because we are disabled, right?”

I pursed my lips, and finally nodded coldly:

“No matter who you are, I will still ask for money.”

The argument was so loud that surrounding neighbors crowded the small, old house.

“What's going on?”

Truong Tu Dong quickly spoke first, even adding salt:

“Everyone knows the situation between my father and I!”

"There's really no money! Yet she still refuses to give up!"

"Just now, I even beat Dao Dao!"

Hearing that, the neighbors were immediately angry.

"The person has passed away, so the debt should also end! Their father and son are in such a miserable situation, why do you have the gall to ask for it?"

"That's right! Looking at you dressed so beautifully, does it look like you're short on money?"

“A little less calculation Go! Even if you force them to death, you won't get any money back!”

They competed to scold me, some even tried to push me out the door. Dao Dao also trotted after them, shaking her small head, sticking out her tongue and smiling at me. Faced with the crowd's attack, I responded immediately without any politeness:

“So what? They don't have money to pay, so can you pay instead?

“I'm not short of money, but it's my money, I have to get it back!”

“What about dead people? I'm not asking for the dead, I'm asking for the living!”

After I spoke arrogantly, the whole room immediately fell silent. Everyone looked at each other, no one dared to say another word. Seeing my tough attitude, Truong Tu Dong struggled to push the wheelchair and began to play love cards.

"Le Le, I know I have to pay my debt, but my child and I really don't have the ability."

“My leg is disabled, my child has to take medicine every month, you all know these things!”

I pursed my lips, I really understood everything he said. When Dao Dao was seven years old, she had a high fever. At that time, Van Phuong and Truong Tu Dong did not pay attention, thinking that just taking medicine would cure them. The next day, the illness was even worse. The couple frantically took their child to the hospital, but the doctor diagnosed that the child had a fever that had damaged her brain. To treat their child, they sold their house in the city and ran everywhere, but in the end they still couldn't change the fact that Dao Dao was no longer normal like other children. After that, Truong Tu Dong wanted to earn money to support his family and went to work at the construction site. Then while carrying steel, dust flew into his eyes and he fell from a height of several meters. The life was preserved, but the legs were completely damaged. These stories were all told to me by Van Phuong. In the middle of a stream of confused thoughts, Truong Tu Dong bent down, his voice full of pleading:

“Consider it like I'm asking you, Le Le, out of respect, can you let it go?”

“I really can't pay this money.”

Looking into his pleading eyes, I bit my lip.

“The same saying, if I don't pay, I will destroy this house.”

After speaking, I bent down and looked coldly at Truong Tu Dong.

“I ask one last time, will you pay or not?”

He looked up, his face filled with disbelief.

"I'm already this poor, are you still asking for money?"

“Has your conscience been eaten by a dog?”

Dao Dao also ran over and angrily shouted at me:

“You are an evil aunt! I hate you!”

“Go away! Get out of my house now!”

The people around me were also full of awkwardness, wanting to blame me but were afraid of causing trouble. I nodded, my voice calm:

“That means you don't intend to pay, right?”

“Okay.”

After that, I took out my phone and immediately called an acquaintance in the construction team.

“Send two excavators over here.”

“I want to demolish this house.”

Truong Tu Dong's house is a dirt house, the surrounding walls are also made of rammed earth. It can be said that looking in, we only see poverty and misery. Finally, a neighbor lady couldn't bear it anymore, pulled my hand, her voice full of advice:

“Little girl, you don't look like a cruel person!”

“Listening to what Tu Dong said, you and his wife were once close friends.”

"So you know his family's situation well, right?"

Everyone The surrounding people also nodded along:

"That's right, don't say one million four hundred thousand, even one thousand, father and son don't have it."

But no matter what anyone says, I am still unmoved. Still steadfastly repeating that sentence:

“Debt must be paid, that's natural.”

“I cannot afford to lose such a large amount of money because of their suffering.”

One hundred and forty million, not a small number, at least in this town, is enough to buy a luxury apartment. As soon as he finished speaking, someone in the crowd suddenly sneered:

“When lending, don't you think about their family's situation?”

"Van Phuong is dead, who knows if she really borrowed that money from you?"

“Now it's just your words!”

As soon as he finished speaking, many people also followed:

"That's right, their family is so poor, why do you still lend them so much money?"

“You have problems yourself!”

I took a deep breath, feeling like there was a heavy rock weighing me down, extremely uncomfortable. When Van Phuong borrowed money from me before, I agreed to lend money because she was my best friend. Furthermore, I really sympathize with her family's situation. When I lend money, I don't think much about getting it back. But now it's different, it's my money, I must get it back. Listening to their criticism, I just feel ridiculous.

“When did helping people in need become a wrong thing?”