Chapter 7 — Lottery Ticket Without Name

Lam appeared in the legal department at dawn. He became thinner, his leg was injured, but he was still conscious.

Quan hugged his friend, then immediately asked for the ticket.

Lam said he gave the ticket to Quan immediately after purchasing it. Quan remembers differently: he gave the ticket back to Lam in the pocket of his protective jacket.

Nhi asked both of them to write down their own memories, not looking at what the other person said. The two versions do not match the time, but match one detail: the third person standing next to the water vending machine.

Lam was kidnapped because he discovered that union funds were transferring money to a shell company. He used the ticket to force them to reveal their faces.

"I plan to give the tickets to the press," Lam said. "But if the ticket disappears, they'll call me a thief."

Quan asked why he sent the ticket to Mrs. Sau's lunch box.

Lam said he believed Mrs. Sau, but did not know that Thanh was following her.

Khanh went to the hospital, brought a document saying Lam had died and asked to hand over "the deceased's property". Nhi stopped him outside the door.

Khanh said the fund has the right because Lam is a union member. Nhi requested a charter. The charter does not have a provision for owning lottery tickets.

Police arrested Khanh when he tried to leave. In the car there was a hard drive and a fake ticket.

Khanh claimed that union funds were used to compensate for the factory's investment losses. He created Lam's death record to withdraw insurance money, then intended to use the real ticket as a "fund asset" if he won.

Thanh is just a debt collector and worker retainer. The foreman is the person covering the camera.

The owner of the fifty-two billion winning ticket has not yet been verified. Quan admitted he bought it for him, but had no proof of handing it over.

Lam said he wanted Quan to take the blame, because Quan had repaired the machine, bought the ticket, and endured the danger. Quan refused.

"I can't take money from the whole group just because I held it for one minute longer."

Nhi looked at the two people. "So we have to prove that the group contributed and determine the share."

Notebooks, messages and cameras are included in the records. The ticket was placed in the state safe.

Khanh asked to re-draw the number, saying the tickets might have been swapped. The lottery agency agreed to re-examine the process before the media.

Quan knew that the second drawing session would be where people decided to believe in the paper or the person holding the paper.

Ms. Sau voluntarily handed over her phone and the money Khanh transferred. She said she accepted the money to have proof of the transaction, but still understood that receiving money made people suspicious.

Phuc stood outside the testimony room, angrily saying she had made the group lose trust. Mrs. Sau did not argue. "Trust is not something to keep in your pocket. It must withstand being tested."

Quan remembered that sentence when the court asked twelve people to rewrite the ticket donation agreement. Those who contribute enough will receive a refund and a portion of the profits; Those who withdraw before the drawing date will only receive back the exact amount contributed. No one is allowed to use the name "ticket holder" to receive more.

Khanh objected, saying Lam was dead on paper. Nhi provided Lam's live video at the hospital and the assessment records. Khanh moved to say Lam had taken the funds on his own, but the transfer table showed that the withdrawals were made using Khanh's own administrative card.

Thanh was brought in for questioning. He looked at Lam and smiled: "I told you not to trust the person who saved you."

Lam replied: "You didn't save me. You kept me like a commodity."

Thanh admitted that he received money from Khanh to scare Lam, but did not know about the death notice. The person wearing the hook ring is an insurance agent named Duc, who specializes in recovering compensation documents. Duc held the real ticket one night and took a photo back and pay it to Tai.

Tai was arrested at the spare parts warehouse. In his cupboard were hundreds of copies of worker's cards and a ticket printer. He claimed he did not print the fake ticket himself; The device was brought by Khanh, and the serial number was provided by someone from the insurance company.

Quan asked Tai why he was holding the group's ticket. Tai said he contributed money but his name was not recorded because the foreman told warehouse workers not to get involved in fund matters. He was afraid of losing his job so he followed suit, then changed his mind when he saw the large amount of money.

Nhi pointed out that Tai was not an innocent person. He took worker data to scare others. Tai bowed his head and agreed to be a witness on the condition that he refund all the money he earned.

The verification session is streamed online. The lottery agency scans the serial code, checks the security ink, and compares the original printout. The ticket is valid and has not been altered. The group representative can receive the prize, but the right to divide the money is a civil matter.

Quan was asked why he kept the ticket the longest. He said he held it overnight because he was afraid it would be taken, but did not consider it his property. I would like to have this sentence recorded in the minutes.

Lam stood up and said the money should be divided according to the contribution, not according to the person who touched the ticket. He proposed to set aside a part to create a labor safety fund, because the lack of protection caused him to become a dead person.

Khanh was silent until Nhi brought up the email file "K-17/adjustment". It contained his electronic signature and the schedule for sending the death notice before Lam's disappearance. Khanh eventually admitted to setting it up, but still said the ticket belonged to the foundation.

The judge asked: "What does the statute say?"

Khanh did not answer. The paper had no name, but the people who contributed money put their names on it with statements and receipts.

That night, when Quan returned to his room, he found that the door had not been pried open. On the table was a handwritten letter from Lam: "I'm sorry for bringing you into this. But I have no one else to trust."

Quan folded the letter. In the hallway, someone called his name again, this time it was a woman's voice.

The woman is Phuc's mother. She held an old envelope, saying her son hid it because he was afraid of being fired. In the envelope there was a certificate confirming that Lam had given money to twelve people, along with a handwritten line: "No one can act in my name."

Quan read that line and understood that Lam had prepared for the possibility that he would not return. He put the paper in a file and did not give it to reporters waiting outside the gate.

Nhi asked why she didn't make it public right away to put pressure on her. Quan replied: "Because the person in the paper has not agreed to appear. We cannot correct one type of appropriation with another type."

They returned to the hall, where the court was preparing for the verification session. The ticket is in a glass box, under white light. No one has touched it, but everyone has been touched by it: work, family, debt and the way they look at each other.