Chapter 20 — Nanny Counts Moles

At eleven forty-seven noon, we arrived outside the old seafood market. That place has been abandoned for many years, and the air still has a fishy smell. Cold storage iron door number three was slightly open. On the door hung a rusty lock. As soon as I got close, the phone vibrated. Strange number sent a text message. Come in. Place the box on the ground. Don't turn around. I raised my head and looked at the dark cold warehouse door. Inside came the suppressed cough of a child. The next second, a small hand poked out from the crack in the door. On her wrist was tied a faded hospital bracelet. On it were written three words. Diep Tieu Tranh.20I walked into the cold storage step by step. The cold storage has been out of use for a long time, there is black water on the ground, and the corner of the wall is piled with torn Styrofoam boxes. That small hand quickly retracted back. I placed the box on the cement floor inside the door. "I'm here." There was no response from inside. There was only the sound of very soft breathing. After my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I saw a woman sitting in the deepest part of the cold storage. She was over thirty years old, her hair was messy, and she was holding a small skinny girl in her arms. The girl was about three years old, her face was yellow, her arms exposed under her short-sleeved shirt were so thin it made people feel sad. She opened her very big eyes and looked at me. That look was not like Tieu Man's panic, nor was it like An An's calmness. She was like a small animal that had been chased for a long time, not even daring to breathe. The woman asked hoarsely: "Are you Manh Thanh?" I nodded. "It's me." She covered the girl back a little more. "Don't come closer." I stopped. "I'm not coming." "First you tell me if someone is following you." The woman shook her head, then quickly nodded again. "I don't know." "Last night someone pried open my door." "This morning my husband went out to buy clothes, but he still hasn't come back." My heart sank. "His name is What?” The woman was about to answer, but outside the cold storage suddenly came the sound of iron chains dragging on the ground. Her face immediately turned pale. "They're here." I didn't turn around. Tan Man once said that the more this time comes, the less you should panic. I kept my voice steady. "The code on the bottom of the child's foot, can you let me see it?" The woman cried and shook her head. "What's the use of looking?" "If you see it, you'll rob her." I said: "I'm not here to rob children." "I'm here to put those who rob children in prison." The girl suddenly pulled the corner of the woman's shirt. The girl's voice was very small. "Mom, she doesn't have a bad smell on her." The woman's tears immediately fell. My heart hurts too. The child has been protected by his adoptive mother until now at least he still knows how to call his mother. But perhaps right from birth, she had to carry a series of codes that could not be brought to light. Outside the cold storage door, a man's laughter rang out. "Mrs. Ha, you really hid it well." "But you forgot that this market used to be the Jiang family's warehouse." The woman trembled all over. I turned around. Two men entered. A person wearing a black coat, his eyebrows and eyes somewhat resembled Mrs. Giang. Seeing me, his eyes immediately fell to the box on the ground. "Manh Thanh?" "You really dare to come." I looked at him. "Who are you?" He laughed. "A member of the Giang family." "You raised our child for three years, do you really consider yourself a mother?" I did not answer him. "Diep Tieu Tranh has nothing to do with the Giang family." "Whether or not it is related is not up to you to decide." He kicked the box on the ground. "Bring the blood sample over. yet?" I said: "I brought it." "I have to take the child out first." He seemed to hear a joke. "What right do you have to set conditions?" The person next to him suddenly stepped up and grabbed Ms. Ha's hair. Diep Tieu Tranh shouted. I suddenly stepped forward. The person wearing the shirt

The black coat raised his hand to point at me. "Don't move." "If you still move, both of them will be guilty." I looked at Mrs. Ha in pain until her face turned white but still protected Diep Tieu Tranh very tightly. At that moment, I remembered the way I hugged Tieu Man. Sometimes bloodline comes too late. The effort of nurturing is accumulated day by day. I took a tape recorder out of my pocket and pressed play. Inside, Mrs. Giang's voice rang out. "Bring both of you down here." "Which one is Manh Thanh's biological child, let her choose today." The face of the person wearing the black coat changed. I played a segment again. That's what he just said. "Previously, this market was the Jiang family's warehouse." I looked at him. "Your family members all have the same talking habit." "Too confident." He suddenly reacted and rushed forward to steal the recorder. At the same time, footsteps were heard outside the cold storage room. "It's the police." "Let me go." The man in the black coat turned and ran. But the back door of the cold storage was also blocked. The person next to him panicked and grabbed Diep Tieu Tranh, wanting to use the child as a shield. Mrs. Ha rushed forward and bit his hand. The man screamed, Diep Tieu Tranh fell to the ground. I rushed to help her, my knee hitting the cement floor hard. The pain made my eyes darken.