Chapter 21 — Mistakes Cannot Be Compensated

Seeing me coming, Tong Dao introduced: "Hua Van Chau, the new medical doctor in charge of our center." Hua Van Chau nodded to greet me.

“Congratulations.”

I looked back at the mediation record in my hand.

“Is this worth congratulating?”

“Ending a persistent loss also requires courage.”

He spoke naturally, without asking questions, nor showing sympathy or pity. Tong Dao stuffed a cup of hot coffee into my hand.

"From today onwards, you must obediently come to work for me. You missed half a month of training, doctor Hua has arranged a make-up schedule for you."

I looked at Hua Van Chau.

“That fast?”

“Tong Dao said you have a habit of procrastinating your work.”

Tong Dao stood next to him and added: "That was before, but now I'm not sure." After the three people got into the car, I glanced in the rearview mirror and saw Luc Hoai Xuyen still standing in front of the court gate. The car drove out of the parking lot, his figure quickly faded and disappeared in the rain. When I officially started working at the rehabilitation center, I started again from the most basic assessments. The first patient I directly took charge of was a retired teacher who had just undergone coronary bypass surgery. The old man only walked for 3 minutes the first time he practiced, he was breathing heavily, clutching the handrail and refusing to continue.

“Is your place a place to cheat money?”

I squatted down to adjust the heart rate monitoring belt for the old man.

“Yesterday I only walked for 2 minutes.”

“What good is an extra minute?”

“Tomorrow another half minute.”

The old man snorted.

“Easy to say.”

Hua Van Chau passed by and gave the old man a bottle of water.

"Teacher Tran, next month your niece is getting married. If you want to enter the banquet hall yourself, you have to practice in this half minute."

The old man obediently remained silent. By the second set of exercises, the old man persevered for another 40 seconds. After completing the exercise, I recorded the data in the notebook. Hua Van Chau stood next to the table and looked for a while.

“How do you feel?”

“Better than I imagined.”

“I was asking you.”

My hand holding the pen stopped. Outside the window, a family member passed by pushing a patient in a wheelchair, discussing what to eat tonight.

“It's better than I imagined.”

He nodded.

“Then keep up the good work.”

I have reprinted a new copy of the plan my father left behind. The existing yellowed pages were sandwiched behind a new set of documents, placed in the center's preparation file. The first time I presented my idea to the team, my voice was a bit tense. In the meeting room, no one interrupted. After finishing speaking, Hua Van Chau turned to the last page.

“Premises, personnel and fee collection models need to be recalculated.”

“I know.”

“But the direction is possible.”

Tong Dao kicked me under the table. I looked up at the projector screen. On it is the sketch of the rehabilitation center that I drew when I was 27 years old. Many years passed, and those rough lines finally did not fit in my father's relics box anymore. 11 On the anniversary of my father's death, I took half a day off. In front of the cemetery gate, a new flower shop opened. I bought a bunch of white chrysanthemums and, on the way, bought a bag of roasted chestnuts that my dad used to like to eat. When he stepped in front of the tombstone, Luc Hoai Xuyen was standing there. He was wearing a black dinner jacket, with a bouquet of flowers at his feet. I stop step.

“What are you doing here?”

“Visit dad.”

“He's not my dad anymore.”

Luc Hoai Xuyen's face stiffened. I picked up his bouquet of flowers and placed it on the empty stone bench next to him.

“When he was alive, he couldn't wait for you, and when he died, he didn't need you to visit him.”

Luc Hoai Xuyen stood still in place.

“Gia Hoa, I have investigated all the documents from the past.”

“It has nothing to do with me.”

“I want to make this clear.”

I squatted down and used a tissue to wipe away the dust on the tombstone.