Chapter 14 — Old Painting Restoration Workshop

On the way back from Ms. Dieu Lan's house, Mien Thu sat silently for a long time, looking out the car window, the rows of autumn-yellow trees passing by in the fading afternoon sunlight. She didn't cry, but inside was a vast emptiness that was hard to name - not quite sadness, not quite relief, but a state of suspended animation between having to accept a truth that had forever changed the way she viewed the person she loved the most.

"Do you want to stop somewhere for a while?" Nguyen Vu asked, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye while driving. "I see you need time to digest what you just heard."

Mien Thu nodded. He drove into a small roadside shop, where there were a few wooden tables placed under the shade of old trees, overlooking a rice field that had begun to turn yellow, waiting for the day to be harvested. They sat down, ordered two glasses of iced tea, no one rushed to speak.

"I keep thinking about what he said to Ms. Dieu Lan that night." Mien Thu finally broke the silence, her voice was low and somewhat tired. "'I just betrayed the person I wanted to be, to save the family of the person I respected the most.' All his life after that, he lived as a person trying to atone for his mistakes, even though he never once dared to say it out loud to anyone, even to himself in the most private pages of his diary.

"Do you feel resentful towards him?" Nguyen Vu asked gently, without judgment, simply wanting to understand her true feelings.

Mien Thu thought for a long time before answering, turning the iced tea cup in her hand, looking at the drops of water condensing on the outside of the cup. "Are not." She spoke finally, her voice more certain than she expected. "I don't blame you. I'm just... heartbroken for you. Heartbroken because you had to carry that burden alone for more than sixty years, with no one to share it with, no one to say that you weren't a bad person, that your choices, although not perfect, still came from a heart that knows how to love and sacrifice."

"That's what sets her apart from a lot of people in similar situations." Nguyen Vu said, his eyes looked at her respectfully. "Many people, when discovering a family secret like this, would choose to deny it, or conversely, would let their anger and sense of betrayal overwhelm everything else. She chose to understand, even if it hurt her."

Mien Thu smiled sadly, looking out at the rice fields in front of her. "Perhaps it's because I know what kind of person you are during the twenty-three years I've lived with you. I know you're someone who can fast all day to save money to buy a special varnish for a poor customer who can't afford to pay the full price. I know you once stayed up many nights just to save an old genealogical painting of a strange family, without taking any extra money other than the cost of materials. If such a person ever had to do something against his conscience, I'm sure it wouldn't be right." Not because he was inherently evil, but because circumstances pushed him into a corner with no better options."

They sat quietly for a while longer, the wind rustled through the branches and leaves, and the sounds of insects began to chirp as the sky gradually turned to late afternoon. Nguyen Vu looked at her, then gently placed his hand on her hand on the wooden table, a simple gesture of comfort but filled with understanding.

"No matter what you decide about announcing this truth," he said, his voice deep, "I will be here, with you every step of the way."

Mien Thu looked down at his hand on hers, feeling the warmth radiating from it, then looked up at him. In his eyes, she saw not only the sympathy of a work companion, but also something deeper, warmer, that both seemed to have felt for a long time but no one dared to say it.

"Thank you." She spoke softly, not withdrawing her hand.

They sat like that for a long time, not saying anything, just letting that warm silence say everything that words could not fully express.

When it began to get dark, they continued on their way back to the city. In the car, Mien Thu opened her phone and reviewed the work messages she had missed throughout the afternoon. Among them, there was a message from Thuy Chi that made her a bit stunned.

"Sister, this afternoon a strange man came to the workshop to ask about the 'Vong Nguyet' painting. He was not from the museum, dressed very politely, introduced himself as 'an acquaintance of the Chau family'. He asked a lot about the restoration progress, and seemed curious about whether you had discovered anything unusual during the work. I answered him briefly and sent him home, but I felt a bit worried, so I let you know."

Mien Thu read the message over and over again, a cold feeling spreading throughout her body. She showed the phone to Nguyen Vu, watching his expression change from surprise to real concern.

"This is not a coincidence." He said, his voice becoming unusually serious. "Someone knew we were investigating, or at least suspected something unusual was going on with the painting."

"How could they know?" Mien Thu asked, her voice a bit panicked. "We were very careful, we never talked about this with anyone except Ms. Dieu Lan."

Nguyen Vu pondered for a moment, trying to retrace every step they had taken. "The sample analysis laboratory — maybe the information was leaked from there, even though I asked them to keep it strictly confidential. Or maybe," he paused, "someone in the art research world heard the rumors about us asking for information about Tu Dieu Lan, and reported it to Chau's family, maybe just because they thought it was interesting news worth sharing, without knowing its seriousness."

Mien Thu tightened her grip on the phone in her hand, feeling as if the safe door they had tried to keep for many weeks was now starting to open, revealing an uncertain space behind.

"So what do we do now?" She asked, her voice shaking with worry.

Nguyen Vu looked at her, his eyes still remained calm even though his heart was clearly equally tense. "We need to speed up the process of collecting evidence, and at the same time prepare ourselves to face what may happen. If Chau Vinh Thinh has begun to pay attention to us, he will not sit still and wait. He will act first, to protect what he considers most important - his family's reputation and assets."

Mien Thu called Thuy Chi back as soon as the car stopped at the red light, her voice trying to stay calm even though her heart was filled with anxiety. "Do you remember anything else about that man? What did he look like, did he leave any business cards or phone numbers?"

"He was about fifty years old, wearing a gray suit and driving a black car with a chauffeur." Thuy Chi told the story over the phone, her voice still a bit confused. "He didn't leave a business card, he just said 'stop by to see the situation' and asked me a few questions about the progress of the work. I found it a bit strange because he kept staring at the lower left corner of the painting, right at the spot with the peeling spot that you often closely examine."

That sentence sent cold blood down Mien Thu's spine. If the stranger actually noticed the exact location where she discovered the fake signature, it meant he wasn't merely curious — he knew very well what he was looking for.

"You did it right, don't worry too much." She reassured Thuy Chi, even though she herself was not very reassured. "From now on, if any stranger comes to ask about the painting, just say that the workshop is in the normal restoration process, there is nothing unusual, and then let me know immediately."

Hanging up, she sat quietly for a moment, her hand still clutching the phone. Nguyen Vu glanced at her and realized that her expression had changed. "What's going on?"

"That man was staring at the exact corner of the painting where I discovered the fake signature." She said, her voice shaking. "Mr. Vu, I think they are not just suspicious. Perhaps they already know, or at least guess, what exactly we have found."

Nguyen Vu was silent for a moment, his hands gripping the steering wheel tighter than usual. "Then we need to be more careful from now on. Maybe they're testing our reaction, to see if we panic and reveal anything. You absolutely must not reveal any information to anyone other than those who already know the story — including Mrs. Kim at the museum, even though she seems trustworthy, until we have enough solid evidence to present the whole story in its entirety."

Mien Thu nodded, clearly feeling that her heartbeat had not slowed down. She looked out the car window, the city street lights began to appear ahead as they approached the center of Hanoi. She clearly felt that from this moment on, her journey to find the truth would no longer be a quiet, silent investigation. Something bigger, more dangerous, is waiting ahead.