Chapter 21 — Mother's Last Painting

"Give it back to me!" Tham Minh Trach pushed her away. "You stole money from my mother?" Lam Uyen's eyes turned red. "Originally, that money should have been given to you! I've been married to you for three years and haven't received anything in return. So what's wrong with taking some of it?" Tham Minh Trach raised his hand and slapped her. The sound of slapping echoed in the hallway. Lam Uyen covered her face and slowly raised her head. "You hit me?" Tham Minh Trach's voice trembled. "Now that my mother is still under investigation, you stole money from her to buy stolen paintings. Lam Uyen, do you have a conscience?" Lam Uyen burst out laughing. "Conscience? When I had a conscience, what did you guys give me? A fake house, a fake promise, a fake husband's family. Now you call me bad, you Tham family is rotten from the core." I looked at her. "Where did you ask Lam Thanh to receive the painting?" She looked at me. "Why should I tell you?" Co Hanh Chu said: "If you don't tell, the police will investigate. At that time, you will be charged with receiving stolen goods." Lam Uyen's eyes were panicked. Tham Minh Trach said: "Lam Uyen, do you still want to go to jail?" She gritted her teeth. "Abandoned factory south of the city." Co Hanh Chu immediately called the police. Lam Uyen suddenly grabbed my sleeve. "Hua Thanh Thanh, I already told you, please help me ask for leniency." I pulled out my sleeve. "I am not a Bodhisattva." She scolded: "You are so cruel." I looked at her. "I just finally stopped being soft-hearted." In the abandoned factory south of the city, Lam Thanh indeed brought the painting. He thought the person waiting for him was Lam Uyen, but he didn't expect it to be the police. When arrested, he still hugged the painting tightly and refused to let go. "This is money to change my life!" Seeing the picture, Co Hanh Chu's face stiffened. After confirming, Aunt Chu said: "It's a painting of the Co family." Co Hanh Chu bowed before me. "Thank you." I said: "I didn't find it; your clue led us here in time." He said: "If it weren't for the Hua family's records, I wouldn't be able to come here." Before being put into the police car, Lam Thanh suddenly turned around and shouted at me: "Hua Thanh Thanh, do you think you're done with arresting me? Your parents' car was not hit by me! Ma Duc Hai is not the biggest person behind it!" I stepped forward. "Who was really behind it?" He smiled, showing his yellow teeth. "Beg me." The police forced him into the car. The moment the car door closed, he was still smiling. Co Hanh Chu stood next to me. "What he said may be true." I asked: "What do you know?" He said: "Before he passed away, my father said that among the people who forced the Hua family to hand over things that year, there was a person named Luc." Hearing this last name, Aunt Chu's face changed. "Luc Van Xuong?" Co Hanh Chu nodded. Aunt Chu said in a low voice: "He hasn't appeared for many years." I asked: "Who is he?" Aunt Chu looked at me. "My mother's senior brother was also the person who most wanted to get the restored records in the backyard that year." My mother's senior brother was Luc Van Xuong. I heard this name when I was young. Every time my mother mentioned him, her tone was always bad. She said the restorer must have steady hands and an upright mind. Luc Van Xuong's hands are steady, but his character is not. Aunt Chu told me that Luc Van Xuong and my mother studied with the same teacher that year. My mother relied on her skills to make a living, and he relied on smooth talk and connections to make money. Some old paintings were damaged by him, and he asked my mother to fix them. After that, my mother refused to continue helping, and he immediately hated the Hua family. "In the notes my mother left behind, there is a separate set of restoration methods." Aunt Chu said. "It's not something magical, just the experience she gathered after decades. But in Luc Van Xuong's eyes, it was a treasure that helped him change his life." I asked: "Where is he now?" Co Hanh Chu said: "In three days there will be an antique exhibition in the city. He will appear." Aunt Chu immediately said: "You can't go." I looked at her. "If he targets those notes, even if you don't go, he will still come to the house." Co Hanh Chu said: "I can go with you." Aunt Chu looked at him. "Is Mr. Co helping Thanh Thanh because of the Co family painting or because of something else?" Co Hanh Chu said frankly: "Both. The Co family's painting has been recovered, but my father's death was also related to this group of people. I want to investigate clearly." Aunt Chu didn't speak anymore. On the day of the antique exhibition, I wore black clothes. Aunt Chu handed over my mother's wooden box to me. "In the box there are only a few normal tools, not notes. Take real notes, don't take them out." I said: "I know." There were many people in the exhibition room. When I walked in with Co Hanh Chu, many people turned to look. After the incident with Ma Duc Hai, the story of the Hua family's backyard spread throughout the city. Some people talked in low voices. "Is that the daughter of the Hua family?" "I heard there are a lot of good things hidden in the backyard." "You're so young, can you hold on to it?" Aunt Chu heard it and immediately turned around. "Want to try?" Those people immediately shut their mouths. We stopped in front of a landscape painting. An old man wearing a gray Zhongshan-style shirt walked over.