Chapter 2 — From Today I Only Speak the Truth

There is not a single word that directly says my father took the money. But every word is throwing dirty water on my family. The next day, the academic advisor called me. "Luong Tue, is the story online about your family?" I stood in the windward area behind the lecture hall building, my throat tight. "Miss, that's not true." The advisor was silent for a few seconds. "Don't rush. There are people in the school who have shared this story in groups, I need to find out the situation. If your family has documents to prove it, quickly arrange it." After hanging up, the phone appeared again. private messages from strangers. "Aren't you ashamed of using orphan compensation money to go to college?" "Your mother's arm hurts, is it just pretending? Has selling drugs become a habit?" "Is someone like your father worthy of being a farmer? Even the mountains and forests dare to destroy them." I squatted against the wall, my stomach churning. When I got home, there was even more chaos in the yard. People from the forestry station came once again. Luong Uyen Ninh accused my father of deforestation for a long time and arbitrarily taking wood from the mountains. Staff checked for half a day, eventually only discovering the previous two trees. The station chief was still quite polite. "Mr. Luong, the punishment was already imposed last time. From now on, don't touch the quarantined area again." My father nodded. "I know." But it's not over yet. The town's agricultural mechanization station also arrived. They said someone reported that my family's small agricultural vehicle had not been properly inspected for many years and could not continue to go to the fields to transport goods. My father explained that the car was only used in the fields and had never been driven on major roads. The other party checked the documents and said the correct procedures were lacking. Immediately afterwards, the simple tent set up in the field was also asked to be dismantled. That tent is used to store water barrels, pesticide bottles and lunches, and has been up for more than ten years. This time it also became a problem. My mother had originally arranged to go to Tay Cau to help people pick garlic, but before she left the house, people called to say they didn't need her to come anymore. "Miss Que Lan, it's not that I don't want to help you. Now that Uyen Ninh is making such a fuss online, I'm afraid that hiring you to do the job will be said to be using illegal labor." After hearing that, my mother sat down on the doorstep. The old gloves in his hand fell to the ground. She bent down to pick it up, but her fingers were stiff and she still couldn't pick it up. My father walked over to help her pick it up. Mother raised her head to look at him, her voice was so hoarse that it was hard to hear. "Hau Son, my hands hurt, but I can still make some money." "Even this he wants to stop." My father said nothing. He brushed off his gloves and placed them back on his mother's knees. At that moment, for the first time I saw his eye sockets turn red. On the morning of the third day, Luong Uyen Ninh led Hua Nghien to the old house. My mother is looking for medicine in the room. As soon as Hua Nghien entered the door, she raised her phone and filmed the whole earthen wall, the old cabinet and the stove in our house. "Uncle, we just want to clarify the truth, please don't get excited." I immediately blocked the camera. "Who gave you permission to film?" Luong Uyen Ninh walked around me and went straight into the inner room. "Where are the old cloth bags?" My father came in from the yard. "What are you looking for?" Luong Uyen Ninh opened the trunk. wood, pulled out all the old clothes my mother kept at the bottom of the trunk. "Are your parents' refugee documents here?" "There are also documents about compensation money. You two have hidden it for so many years, today we must give it to you." My father's face immediately changed. "Who told you that there is compensation money?" Luong Uyen Ninh's eyes turned red. "People in the village all said, if someone died, how could it not be possible? get money?" "You two didn't let me see the documents, isn't it because of guilt?" My mother leaned on her hand

Heat the edge of the bed and stand up. "Uyen Ninh, those things are not what you think." Luong Uyen Ninh's voice became harsh. "So what is it?" "You two treat me like an idiot, raising me for seven years." "Let me eat leftover rice, wear old clothes, then take money from my parents to send Luong Tue to college!" My head is ringing. Mom stepped forward, wanting to stop her from going through the closet. "Don't talk nonsense." Hua Nghien suddenly raised his hand and pushed my mother aside. Strength is not too strong. But my mother's joints were not good, her leg slipped to the side, her finger hit the corner of the cabinet hard. She immediately squatted down, her face turned white in pain. I rushed to help her. "Mom!" Hua Nghien immediately pointed the phone at us. "Don't move your hands! Everyone look clearly, we only came to get documents, their family has started to surround people!" Luong Uyen Ninh also cried. She cried very proficiently, as if she had practiced it before. "Eldest uncle, auntie, I know I live in your house, but do you have the right to know about the things my parents left behind?" My father stood still in place, his chest heaving. He looked at his mother's fingers that were gradually turning purple, his eyes gradually becoming darker. "Hua Nghien, put down the phone." Hua Nghien took a half step back. "Uncle, now it's a law-governed society, don't threaten me."