Chapter 5 — I Overturned My Own Sentence

Hac Thanh has changed a lot. The old commercial street of three years ago has been dismantled, replaced by a giant complex called "Cam Bang Center". The investor is Hoa Kien Real Estate. Location of Tran Kien Hoa. I found a job at a milk tea shop opposite Cam Bang Center. Monthly salary is three thousand five hundred yuan, including one meal. On the day of the interview, the boss looked at me.

“Do you have a criminal record?”

I nodded. The owner was a slightly overweight woman in her forties. She evaluated me from top to bottom a few times.

“Education level?”

“Haven't graduated from high school yet.”

“So I can only be an employee.”

The next day I started work. From eight o'clock in the morning to ten o'clock at night, with one hour break in between shifts. The milk tea shop is located right opposite the main gate of Cam Bang Center, every day all kinds of people pass by bustlingly. At noon on the third day, a white Porsche stopped in front of the center. The car door opens. Tran Duyet stepped down from the passenger seat. After three years of not seeing her, she changed a lot. Her long hair was curled in big waves, she wore a tight silk dress, ten-centimeter high heels, and on her wrist was a shining Patek Philippe watch. The person stepping down from the driver's seat was Tong Dat. He is also different from before. The skinny teenager who used to wear a uniform now has a neat suit and shoes, and his hair is glossy. Tran Duyet took his arm, smiled and talked, then together they walked into Cam Bang Center. I stood behind the milk tea counter, across the street, looking at the two of them. The cup in my hand was distorted without my realizing it.

“Hey, newbie, if you break the cup, you have to pay for it.”

I let go. The owner glanced at me.

“Don't be discouraged.”

I threw the broken cup in the trash and got a new one. At five o'clock in the afternoon, a man wearing a gray suit entered the shop.

“Give me an Americano.”

“This is a milk tea shop, no Americano.”

He paused for a second then burst out laughing.

“So which dish is delicious?”

“Every dish is the same.”

“Then take a big drink.”

I made a cup of typical milk tea and gave it to him. He took it and took a sip.

“You didn't work here before, right?”

“I just arrived.”

“You don't look like a milk tea shop employee.”

“So what kind?”

He tilted his head and looked at me.

“Like someone waiting for something.”

I didn't reply. He placed a business card on the counter and turned to leave. I picked it up to see. Chairman of Bang Vien Group. The largest corporation in Hac Thanh. I don't know how many times bigger than Tran Kien Hoa's Hoa Kien. I turned the business card over to the back. On the back is a handwritten note:

“If you need a better job, call this number.”

I looked at that line for a long time. A stranger walked into a milk tea shop, just looked at me a few times and then left a business card saying he wanted to give me a job? Not normal. I stuffed the business card into my pocket. That night, returning to the temporarily rented room, I called Ton Minh.

“What kind of person is Co Tham?”

“Why did you suddenly ask him?”

"Today he came to the milk tea shop I work at to buy things and left a business card."

Ton Minh was silent for a few seconds.

"Heir to Bang Vien Group, only son of the Co family - the richest family in Hac Thanh. Twenty-seven years old, graduated from MIT, returned home to take over the company for three years, directly quadrupling Bang Vien's market value."

“Relationship with Tran Kien Hoa?”

"Competitor. Hoa Kien has always wanted swallowed Bang Vien's real estate segment but could not chew it. On the surface, both sides were polite, but behind their backs they stabbed each other a lot."

“So he could…”

“What could it be?”

"Nothing."

I hung up the phone and put the business card under my pillow. The enemy of your enemy is not necessarily your friend. But at least… It's a variable. I did not call that phone number. The second week, Co Tham came again. Still on time. Five o'clock in the afternoon.

“Give me any drink.”

I finished mixing it and gave it to him.

“Received the business card?” he asked.

“Got it.”

“Why didn't you call?”

"Unnecessary."

He laughed softly.

“Do you know who I am?”

"Know. Chairman of Bang Vien Group.”

“You know, but you still don't call? Most other people received this business card and immediately dialed the number in less than five minutes."

“I'm not like most other people.”

He held a glass of milk tea and leaned against the counter.

“Lam Van. Students of the class of 2019 at Hac Thanh No. 1 High School. The college entrance exam cheating case, sentenced to three years in prison, just came out this year."

My hand stopped a bit.

“You investigated me?”

“On the way to a milk tea shop, I saw a female employee with calluses from holding a pen for a long time. Her way of speaking was very logical and her expressions were very well controlled. I was curious so I took the opportunity to look it up.”

“And then what?”

“Then I discovered a rather interesting case.”

He looked at me.