Chapter 3 — Grandma Reincarnated

The pipe extends inside, about two or three meters, then makes a turn. I vaguely heard a sound. Very softly, like a cat meowing. It's like the whine of a newborn baby who's about to cry until he's hoarse. My scalp immediately exploded. “Granddaughter!” The sound in the tube stopped for half a second, then suddenly soared, crying heart-wrenchingly. My whole body crawled into the ventilation duct. My shoulder got caught in the shutter frame, I tried to squeeze in, I didn't care if my arm was cut twice and bleeding. Crawling about four or five meters, the pipeline turned a right angle. At the corner, a thick layer of soundproofing cotton was stuffed, blocking the air vent that should have led to the hallway. Behind the soundproofing cotton layer is a clamping compartment. My niece was wrapped in a nurse's uniform, lying on the floor of the holding compartment, her small face was red and purple, the corners of her mouth were full of saliva and tears, her crying was so hoarse that she could no longer make a voice. I reached out and picked her up, pressing her to my chest. The girl's body was so hot that it was scary, her clothes were half wet and half dry, her lips were dry and cracked. "Grandma is here." "Don't be afraid." "Grandma is here." The little girl cried harder, her small hand holding my collar tightly and not letting go, her nails turning white. I patted her back and slowly backed away from the duct. When I crawled out, my whole arm was shaking. Tham Nam didn't know when he woke up, wearing a hospital gown and standing at the door of the storage room. Seeing the little diaper wrapped in my arms, her legs softened and she knelt directly to the ground. "I..." I walked over and put the baby in her arms. The moment she received the baby, she burst into tears, hugged the child and squatted on the ground, her whole body shaking like a leaf in the wind. "It's okay." I squatted down and hugged her. “I'm back.” The police rushed around us, some took photos, some took notes. People from the technical department lie down in front of the ventilation door to take samples, using tweezers to grasp the fiber on the soundproofing cotton. I hugged Tham Nam and stood up, turning my head to look at the dark ventilation door. Soundproofing cotton, new locks, unusual air conditioning. This is not a sudden thought. Someone has set up an extremely tight trap on the fifth floor. Knowing that I had installed a camera, he immediately chose a few tenths of a second of a snow-clogging camera to take action. Knowing that the fifth floor was an independent air conditioning system, he immediately reduced the amount of cooling so that the baby would cry less because of the heat. Knowing there were cameras in the hallway, he immediately chose the only storage room that couldn't be filmed. Knowing that the pipe could be connected to another place, he used soundproofing cotton to block the door and hide the baby in the clamp compartment. Every step has been calculated. When I walked out of the storage room, I bumped into Trieu Man in front of me. She stood at the end of the hallway, looking both scared and concerned. "Mrs. Tran, have you found the baby? So good!" When she said "so good", the corner of her mouth curled up. I stared at her for a moment. Her eyes were steady, her tone was concerned, standing in the middle of a group of nurses, tightly closed without a drop of water leaking out. "That's right." I said. "Found." Her sigh of relief was very natural. "That's good, it scared me to death. I just heard that the baby was missing, I couldn't stand it anymore..." I didn't answer and helped Tham Nam back to the hospital room. After closing the door, I called the police. "The storage room ventilation door has soundproof cotton, there will probably be fingerprints and skin cells on it." "Also, today the air conditioner on the fifth floor is not normal, the cooling amount has been adjusted. Check to see who touched the equipment, there is a person in the equipment department named Mr. Truong, this morning he was nowhere to be found." "In addition, yesterday afternoon there was a head nurse who wanted to take my niece for a check-up, but I refused, what is her name?" right..." "Trieu Man." Old Truong was found in the underground warehouse on the first floor. He hid behind a row of old abandoned hospital beds, clutching a toolbox in his hand. The police asked why he ran. He was so scared that he peed his pants on the spot. "It's not me, I just

Help her move some things… She gave me money… My niece needs money to go to school…” “Who gave you the money?” The police asked. Old Truong trembled for half a day and said three words. "Head nurse Trieu." The news reached the hospital room while Tham Nam was feeding the baby water. My son stood next to me peeling fruit. My niece cried until she was hoarse. She could only use a spoon to sip little by little, take a sip and then moan. Tham Nam's eyes were red, his hands were still shaking, but he still persisted in feeding himself. I sat next to him and watched, saying nothing. The police asked me if I wanted to control Trieu Man right now. I said no rush. She's still acting outside, let her act a little longer. "The soundproof cotton in the ventilation door, maybe she wore gloves to do it, it's unlikely there will be fingerprints. But when planning, she always has to discuss, right? Do you always have to draw diagrams? Do you always have to text?" The police understood. "Phone, computer, notes at home, we immediately applied for a search warrant." "It's hard." I said. Hanging up the phone, Tham Nam finished the last spoonful of water and gently placed his niece down next to the pillow. The niece closed her eyes and fell asleep, her small mouth still twitching. Tham Nam looked at her face, tears falling again. "Mom, do you know how scared I was just now?" "I know." "I dreamed that Dinh Tham couldn't find me, then he drank himself to death, and I was alone..."