Chapter 2 — I Overturned My Own Sentence

The case was handled so quickly that it was scary. So fast that I didn't even have time to find a lawyer. The investigation agency's conclusion was: Eighteen-year-old Lam Van, due to her unsatisfactory university entrance exam results, spent twenty thousand yuan to hire a university student named Vuong to take the exam for her, and at the same time bought cheating equipment. The evidence includes: One, Vuong Man's testimony. Two, cheating devices were found on me. Three, hotel cameras and check-in records. Four, twenty thousand yuan withdrawal history in my bank account. The fourth thing left my mind completely blank.

“My card has never had more than three thousand yuan, where did I get twenty thousand?”

The prosecutor glanced at me.

"Bank data shows that on June 3, an amount of twenty thousand was transferred to your account. On June 4, the entire amount was withdrawn."

"I didn't withdraw it! My bank card is always in my bag!"

“The password is only known to you.”

“Could it be someone…”

“Lam Van.” The prosecutor interrupted me. "Your bank card, your password, your uniform bag, your entrance exam notice, your ID. Tell me, who could have taken all of those things at the same time?"

I'm speechless. The court-appointed legal aid attorney is a young man fresh out of college. He met me twice. Each time takes less than fifteen minutes. He flipped through the case file.

"The chain of evidence is very complete. I advise you to plead guilty to receive leniency."

“I am innocent.”

"If you plead guilty, you'll probably only be sentenced for one year. If you don't admit it and go through the process, it could be three years."

“I am innocent.”

He closed the file and stood up.

“Then I can only do my best.”

On the day of the trial, the audience had school leaders and a few classmates. I glanced over. Then I saw Tran Duyet. She sat in the second row, wearing a white dress, her face full of pain. Next to him is Tong Dat. My ex-boyfriend. He put his arm around Tran Duyet's shoulders, bowed his head and said something to her. Tran Duyet looked up. Our eyes met. The corners of her lips curled slightly. Just for a moment. I stared at her. When the judge read the verdict, I couldn't hear every word clearly. I only heard the last sentence.

“Imprisonment for a term of three years.”

A muffled scream rang out from behind. I turned my head. My mother fell from the auditorium row to the ground, foaming at the mouth, her whole body convulsing violently. Two judicial police immediately held me tightly. I frantically struggled to rush forward, the handcuffs tightened so hard on my skin that I drew blood. Someone called an ambulance. Someone pressed my mother's philtrum. Tran Duyet stood up, covered his mouth, his face full of "horror" and "sorrow". Tong Dat hugged her, as if he was gently comforting her. When I was dragged out of the courtroom, an ambulance siren rang out in the hallway. I don't know which hospital my mother was taken to. No one told me. Hac City Women's Prison, Area B, Room 3. Eight people crowded into a room of less than twenty square meters. My sleeping area is the bottom bunk next to the door. The first night I didn't sleep. The second night was the same. On the morning of the third day, when I went out to breathe, a woman with short hair came.

“Just in?”

I didn't reply.

“I was asking you.”

A fat woman standing next to me pushed my shoulder hard.

“Sister Trieu is talking to you, are you deaf?”

Woman with short hair wave your hand.

“Don't scare her.”

She squatted down in front of me.

“What crime?”

“College entrance exam?”

She looked at me for a moment.

“You don't look like the type to do that.”

That was the first person since I was arrested who said I was "different". I finally looked up at her. Her name is Trieu Hong, thirty-eight years old, guilty of financial fraud, sentenced to five years in prison, having served three and a half years. Later I learned that before coming here, she was the deputy general director of a financial company, managing more than a hundred employees.

"You don't think I'm the same, why?"

“Eyes.” Trieu Hong replied. "The person who cheats will feel guilty. But in her eyes there is only hatred."

I said nothing. Trieu Hong did not ask further, stood up and left. But from that day on, she became the only person in the cell who didn't bully me. A week later, I finally met my family. Sitting opposite is not my mother.

“My mother is hospitalized.”

"Brain hemorrhage. Three days of emergency treatment can save my life, but half my body can't move anymore."

I tightened my grip on the edge of the table.

“What about hospital fees?”

“There is still debt in the immediate future.”

“What about the vegetable counter at home?”

“My mother is like that, who else can sell it?”

The atmosphere fell silent. He looked at me.

“Van Van, did you really cheat?”

“Then why…”

“Someone harmed me.”

“Tran Duyet.”

He frowned.

“Chen Jianhua's daughter?”

“Do you have proof?”

"Do not have."

He sighed.

"If you don't have evidence, don't talk nonsense. You already know the status of the Tran family in Hac Thanh. Your situation is already miserable enough, don't cause more trouble."

He stood up.

"Your mother sent me a message to tell you to reform well and get out soon."

Having finished speaking, he left. I returned to the cell, lying on the bed staring at the iron plate of the bunk bed above. Trieu Hong leaned closer.

“What did the family say?”

“My mother had a brain hemorrhage, paralyzed half her body.”

Trieu Hong was silent for a moment.

“What are you sorry for?”

“So what are you going to do?”

“Wait outside.”

“What happened when you went out?”

“Find evidence, turn the case over.”

Trieu Hong laughed softly.

“Okay. But first you have to get out alive.”

She reached under her pillow, took out a book, and threw it to me. 《Criminal Procedure Law》

"You have to memorize every clause here. You said that if someone harms you, hatred alone is useless. You must understand the law better than them."

I opened the first page. From that day on, I worked during the day and read books at night. After reading 《Criminal Procedure Law》, I read 《Criminal Law》, 《Evidence Law》, then 《Civil Code》. The books Trieu Hong got from acquaintances, she quietly stuffed them into my hands one by one.

“I used to work in finance, why do I have these things?”

“Just come here and read.” Trieu Hong replied. “You were also harmed by others.”

“So your case…”

"It can't be overturned. But your case can be."

She looked straight at me.

"You're only eighteen. You still have time."