Chapter 1 — Identity Recovery Trial

When the judge asked me if I would plead guilty, my mother sat in the audience, her eyes red, and she nodded. She was afraid I wouldn't understand, so she used her mouth to remind me. "Receive it." My father bowed his head, my brother Giang Nghien stared at me, his eyes as if warning. The victim's family sat on the other side, clutching a black and white photo in their hands. As for my adopted sister, Giang Ninh, wearing hospital clothes, sitting in a wheelchair, her face was as white as a meticulously cut piece of paper. She impersonated me to go to college for four years. Use my name to receive a scholarship, be admitted directly to graduate school and intern at a law office. Now, she drank and drove causing death, and the whole family wants me to use my own name to go to jail on her behalf. They said: "Giang Van, your life has already been destroyed, you can't let Ninh Ninh be destroyed again." But they didn't know that I had been waiting for this trial for four years. After the court clerk finished reading the contents of the case, lawyer Chau pushed a parchment bag in front of me. I touched the acceptance letter that was four years late inside and suddenly burst out laughing. This time, no one can escape from those who should be in jail. 1. It was very quiet in the courtroom. But Giang Ninh burst into tears. She hugged her breasts, her shoulders continuously shaking, looking like she could faint at any moment. My mother immediately stood up. "Comrade judge, my youngest daughter's health is not good, she cannot stand excitement." The judge knocked on her gavel. "The examiner maintains order." After sitting down, my mother's eyes remained glued to me. I'm so familiar with that look. From childhood to adulthood, whenever Giang Ninh caused trouble, she would look at me like that. When I was young, Giang Ninh broke a vase and my mother looked at me. Giang Ninh stole her classmate's bracelet, her mother looked at me. Giang Ninh failed the university entrance exam, cried and said she didn't want to study for the exam again, but her mother still looked at me. The meaning in her eyes will forever be only one. Giang Van, you are my sister, please let me go. When the prosecutor read the indictment, Giang Ninh bowed her head and wiped away her tears. "Defendant Giang Van was driving a car, and after causing a traffic accident, fled, causing one person to die." Every word that fell was like a nail hitting me. The victim's mother suddenly collapsed. "My son is only twenty-six years old!" "You crashed into him, why didn't you save him?" "Why could you run away?" She cried so much that she couldn't breathe, the photo in her hand was squeezed until it was wrinkled. I looked at the young face in the photo, my throat choked. The car is not driven by me. You weren't stabbed by me either. But for the past four years, my life has always been controlled by others, broken to pieces. Giang Ninh raised her head, tears sliding down her cheeks. "Sister, I'm sorry." "If it weren't for picking you up, I wouldn't have driven out." Someone in the audience whispered in a low voice. "Her younger sister looks really pitiful." "The driver hit someone and killed someone, but the younger sister even spoke for her." My mother heard those words, as if she had finally grabbed a lifeline, immediately crying and continuing: "Van. Van, please say something quickly." "Your sister has been harmed by you to the point that she has to take drugs every day. How long do you want her to worry about you?" My father's face darkened. "Giang Van, if you do something wrong, you must admit it." "We in the Giang family do not raise the type of girl who shirks responsibility." This sentence almost made me laugh. The Giang family does not raise the type of girl who shirks responsibility. But the Giang family raised a daughter who stole my ID, impersonated my school records, and even wiped the steering wheel clean after stabbing someone to death. Giang Nghien sat next to my mother,

lowered his voice very low. "Giang Van, don't go crazy here." "Ninh Ninh has been recruited straight to graduate school, her life has just begun." I slowly looked at him. "What about my life?" Giang Nghien frowned. "Do you have to be careful at this time?" I didn't look at him anymore. Because four years ago, he said the same thing. That year, when the university entrance exam results came out, I looked up the results that I had been admitted to the Law Faculty of University A. I hugged my phone and cried in the living room, my fingers shaking so much that I couldn't even take a screenshot. I thought I could finally leave the Giang family. I thought I finally didn't need to hear the phrase "you are my sister" every day anymore. Giang Ninh sat on the other end of the sofa, her face gradually turning pale. She tested very poorly. Going to a mediocre local university is also difficult to pass. My mother hugged her and comforted her all night. The next morning, my admission notice disappeared. My identification also disappeared. I asked my mother, she was cooking porridge in the kitchen, not even turning her head. "My younger sister's health is not good, she can't stand the hardship of studying for the retake exam." "My results are good, it will be the same next year." At that time I still didn't understand. Until Giang Ninh wore my white shirt, held my ID and walked out of the room. Her eye sockets were red, but her smile was very gentle. "Sister, don't blame me." "My parents said, University A only checks records and IDs." "There's not much difference in age between you and me, a little different photo can be explained." I rushed forward to snatch back the ID. Giang Nghien immediately held my wrist tightly and forced me down next to the dining table. My knee hit the corner of the table, it hurt so much that tears immediately flowed out of my eyes. He looked at me, without a trace of pain in his eyes. "Giang Van, can you understand a little bit?" "If Ninh Ninh doesn't go to school, she won't be able to live." That day, I realized for the first time. In their eyes, Jiang Ninh's failure to survive was a matter of survival. As for the fact that I can't survive, I just overdid it. The judge looked towards me. "Defendant, regarding the events alleged by the prosecution, do you plead guilty or not?" I heard my mother's rapid breathing. Giang Ninh's wheelchair made a soft sound. Giang Nghien's hand clenched into a fist. I stood up, my voice very calm. "I don't accept it." I looked straight at Giang Ninh's face, slowly saying each word: "Because the driver who caused the accident was not me." "The person impersonating my identity is not the first time stealing my life."2. Four years ago, on the day I received my admission notice from University A, not a single person in the Giang family congratulated me. My father turned over the admission notice twice, and in the end he only asked one question: "How much is the tuition?" I said I could apply for a student loan. He said: "What's a girl doing studying so far away?" My mother sat next to her and picked up food for Giang Ninh. "This time your sister didn't do well in her exam, she's sad, don't brag loudly in the house." Obviously I didn't brag loudly. I just put the admission notice on the tea table, wanting them to look at it once. Giang Ninh suddenly put down her chopsticks. "Sister, did you do it on purpose?" I was stunned. Tears rolled down from her eyes. "I know you failed the exam and still deliberately put the admission notice in front of me." "Do you think I'm useless?" Mom immediately hugged her. "Ninh Ninh, don't cry." "Since childhood, she's been like that, her heart is heavy." I clenched my chopsticks, my fingers stiffened to the point of pain. When Giang Nghien returned from the company, he saw Giang Ninh crying. He hadn't even changed his shoes yet and got angry at me. "Giang Van, are you bullying her again?"

I adopted her, she's inherently sensitive, do you have to poke her wound?" I gave him the admission notice. "Brother, I passed University A." He glanced over. "Yes." Just a "yeah". Even colder than a stranger's congratulations. That night, I lay in my room, holding the admission notice and fell asleep. I woke up in the middle of the night, and outside the door came the sound of a deliberately low-key conversation. My mother said: "If Ninh Ninh warms up. If she retakes the exam for another year, her health will definitely not be able to handle it." My father said: "University A's major is very good, after graduating, you can go to big law offices, you can't waste it." Giang Nghien said: "Giang Van's results are stable, next year you can tell her to retake the exam." My heart gradually cooled down. I pressed closer to the door and heard Giang Ninh say in a choked voice: "But that's the school where I passed the exam." Her mouth showed guilt. "You are different, you are the one we have held in our arms since childhood." I covered my mouth, not letting myself cry out loud. The next day, I hid the admission notice and ID. I thought it would be safe to do so. But I underestimated the determination of Giang's family Nghien said he would take me to the police station to have my household registration renewed. As soon as I got in the car, I smelled the sweet smell of milk tea. That cup of milk tea was given to me by Giang Ninh. "Sister, I was not good a few days ago." "Don't be angry with me." I didn't drink. Giang Nghien looked at me in the rearview mirror. "Ninh Ninh bought it for you herself, what are you making?" I put in a straw and took a sip. When I woke up, I was locked in the old house left by my grandmother. The window was covered with wire. My bag was gone. I banged on the door until my palms were red. There was only a distant aunt watching over me: "Van Van, don't make a fuss anymore." I asked her what day it was. She hesitated and refused to say The old phone did not have a SIM card. Thanks to the neighbor's wireless network, I logged in to the email. Student Giang Van, you have completed the admission procedure for new students. In the photo, the person who came to do the admission procedure is Giang Ninh, wearing my white shirt, smiling obediently at the camera. I stared at the photo, my hands shaking so much that I could hardly hold the phone At that moment, I really understood. They didn't want me to give her any information. They wanted to take down all my name and attach it to Giang Ninh. I used my old phone to go back to the email page, then found the landline in the house and called the admissions office. After the call was connected, the other side was silent. "Giang Van, aren't you already enrolled?" I said: "Isn't that person?" "The other side asked me to provide my ID and exam notice. But all my documents were in the hands of the Giang family. I was locked in the old house, I couldn't even get out. Three days later, Giang Nghien came to pick me up. When he opened the door, I rushed to hit him. He didn't dodge, just held my wrist. "Are you making enough trouble?" My voice was hoarse. "You guys have broken the law." Giang Nghien's face darkened. "Giang Van, don't say such harsh words."