Chapter 16 — Hoa Mi Revenge of Vengeance

Under the stage, loud whispers rang out.
“The plan on the table, surely everyone has seen it.”
“The issue of official quotas has been suppressed for five years.”
“In the past, the Su family was the family that benefited the most, holding the most quota.”
“But standing here today, I want to say a profound sentence: My Su family has taken too much.”
“It's not about taking something that shouldn't be taken.”
"But after taking it, you don't let others live prosperous days."
“The Chamber of Commerce is not the Chamber of Commerce of the Su family alone, but the Chamber of Commerce of eight hundred brands throughout Jiangnan.”
"If the person who is the President only knows how to keep the bowl of meat for his family to eat, and force other people's families to drink thin broth."
"For this position of President, whoever wants to do it, let him do it himself."
Several Dong families of the small kilns in the front row immediately took the lead and applauded loudly. Lady Trieu sat far back and slammed her hands on the table, the sound even drowned out the applause. Luc Truong Thanh stood on one side of the stage, the corners of his mouth deliberately pursed. But the puffiness behind her cheeks was slightly bulging, as if she was trying not to laugh. I have won. The number of votes does not need to be listed at length. That afternoon, the business card of the new President of the Jiangnan Chamber of Commerce was solemnly sent to the Su family's grand courtyard. The business card is made of purple sandalwood, with three words "To Van Ngam" engraved on it. The new diaphragm has also been replaced. This time it is no longer "Sincerity and Faithfulness", but "Hu Thong Huu Huu Vu" (Reciprocity, compensating for each other). It's because I wrote the words myself. The Patriarch's writing is more beautiful than mine, but he told me to let me write it myself.
“Even though your handwriting is bad, the ugliness is strong and powerful.”
This is the second time the Patriarch has praised me. The first time was on the day I stood at the cashier desk when I was seven years old. In July, all business records of To Gia's stores were restored to normal. Master Zhao at the dyeing factory personally mixed a new "To Lam" color. The color test was successful right from the first batch, the colors were accurate and bright. As soon as the news spread, orders from Hangzhou and Suzhou poured in like a rising tide. The tea shop won the largest wholesale contract of the year. The buyer was a notorious tea manor from Fujian. The shopkeeper laughed so much that he couldn't close his mouth, and for several consecutive nights he slept in the shop and didn't bother to go home. Cooperation with the ceramic shop's new kiln was negotiated smoothly. The price obtained was two parts lower than when Tham Thanh Van was in power. The To family's fortunes have completely returned. It's not thanks to the nightingale. The nightingale is dead. The old talisman was burned, the new talisman, after the final suction, exhausted all its strength and dissipated into ashes. Birds are also good, so are talismans, all of which no longer exist in this world. The return of fortune is because the things the Su family needed to do were done on the right track. One dusk in mid-July, I was in my room closing the final accounts. I closed the notebook and leisurely walked out into the yard. The canopy of camphor trees covers half the yard. On the branch of that tree there used to be a birdcage, now there is no trace left. There is only a young green leaf bud rising right next to the old scar. The pale purple wildflowers along the drainage ditch have bloomed into a large patch. Flowers are growing more densely than last month. Xuan Vu carried a bowl of ice-cold apricot soup and approached me, standing next to me.
“Madam, someone came to see you just now.”
"Who is that?"
“An old man wearing a gray shirt, holding an incense fan in his hand.”
“He came to sit for a while and then left immediately.”

“I left a message for my servant to pass on to you.”
“What words?”
Xuan Vu racked his brain and repeated without missing a word:
"He said, even though the bird is dead, the root is still intact."
"The person who gives the bird, there is still someone pulling the strings behind his back."
“That person is not in Jiangnan.”
My hand pressed tightly against the jade hanging on my side. The jade slab is cool, like a thin piece of moonlight sinking to the bottom of the water.
“Did he say anything else?”
“He said, if one day that root finds its way to the door.”
“You will definitely know where to go to find him.”
Taoist Thanh Hu has already left. But he still left behind a string of debt. The other end of the wire is connected to an anonymous person not in Jiangnan. Someone stood behind and pulled the strings to bring the five-colored nightingale to Tham Thanh Van. The person who gives the bird has someone behind it. This statement means that Tham Thanh Van is not the last chess player. He is nothing more than a pawn who sacrifices his life. The person who really wants to deal with the Su family is still hiding in the darkness. I stood quietly under the camphor tree, watching the last streak of sun disappear behind the curved roof tiles on the other side of the canal. This game has already been won. The next game, I don't know when it will come. I bowed my head and looked at the bowl of apricot soup in my hand. On the surface of the turbulent water, the sparkling afterglow of the afternoon sun reflects, shining bright orange-red, illuminating the entire space. I took a sip. Cool sour taste. But after that sourness, the sweetness rolled up on the tip of the tongue. Sweet and extremely persistent. END OF STORY.