Chapter 5 — I Return From The Deep

"Nien So, are you still angry with me? I'm very sorry about that year... but the evidence is clear, I have no choice but to report it to the police."

She sighed, about to reach out and touch my shoulder.

“Look, you've lost a lot of weight. Once you go out, you should nourish yourself——”

I took a step back, avoiding her hand. Look straight into her eyes.

“Tong Uyen Nghi.”

I called her by both her first and last name. Her expression darkened.

“You're blocking my way.”

The voice did not waver at all. I pushed past her. Shoulder bumped into her. Not strong, but made her stagger. Coffee almost spilled out. I didn't even look back and walked straight towards the elevator. Behind her came her voice, somewhat muffled:

“Giang Niem Chu, you——”

The elevator door opens. I walked in, pressed the first floor. The moment the door closed, I saw Tong Uyen Nghi standing in the middle of the hallway, her face pale. The smile on my lips has completely disappeared. Instead there was a gloomy coldness. She was staring at the bag in my hand. Arriving on the first floor, Luc Tham's car was already running and waiting at the door. I pulled the door to the car: "Let's go." He glanced at me and didn't ask much. Pressing on the accelerator, the car glided away from the school campus. After leaving the South gate, he said: "Did you get it?"

“Got it.”

“Is it going well?”

I was silent for a bit. “I bumped into someone.”
\deer?"

“Tong Uyen Nghi.”

He made an "oh" sound. “Trouble?” I leaned back in the chair and closed my eyes.

“She saw me. Furthermore, she saw me taking things.”

“So what will she do next?”

I thought for a moment. I understand Tong Uyen Nghi very well—her first reaction would not be to call the police, nor would she find me. Her first reaction was definitely to call. Call Giang Tu Hanh. Crying, frustrated, pretending to be innocent. Tell him: "Your little sister just got out of prison and ran to my lab to cause trouble. I'm so scared, you take care of her."

“She's going to tell on my brother,” I said.

Luc Tham turned the steering wheel with one hand, and with the other he took out a cigarette and held it in his lips, not yet lit.

“Will your brother believe it?”

I opened my eyes, watching the scene recede outside the window.

“Four years ago he believed.”

The car was silent for a few seconds. Luc Tham took down the unlit cigarette and threw it back into the bag.

“Okay. Then take your time. Before she tries anything, finish what you need to do.”

I nodded. When I got back to the motel, I laid out all the documents on the bed. Experimental notebooks, equipment records, chemical lists. Turn the pages one by one. Take photos one page at a time. Sent to Wen Ruo Duong. When I got to the third notebook, I froze. There is a torn page. Tear very cleanly, leaving only a tiny piece of paper edge at the spine of the notebook. I flipped through the dates of the previous and next pages——the missing page, right at the time when the experimental data was edited. Tong Uyen Nghi played a trick. She had handled these documents before. But she missed something. I turned to the last page of the notebook. Ms. Trieu has a habit of making a table of contents on the last few pages, recording a summary of the core content of each page. The table of contents remains. On that torn page, the table of contents clearly states: *"March 15, reviewed group A data. Found that submitted group B data did not match the original records. Preliminary assessment of data intentionally edited. Notified student Jiang Niemchu to back up the original data."* Black and white paper. Ms. Trieu's autograph. I held the notebook, my fingers trembling. Not excitement. But a relief that was 4 years too late. Ms. Trieu, I got it. The phone rang. Giang Tu Hanh. I didn't pick up. It rang again. Still didn't pick up. The third time, I directly pressed decline. Then the phone started to vibrate crazily——not a call, but a call. message. One message after another.