Chapter 9 — Scary Neighbors

The crime of mistreating a ward, the crime of false accusations of harm, and the crime of infringing on citizens' personal information, many crimes combined, resulted in a sentence of three years in prison. The matter of two hundred thousand yuan in the savings book has also been clearly investigated. The money was transferred to a man named Tran Chi Cuong. That was Truong Tu Lan's colleague, head of the financial department of the trading company. He is married and has a seven-year-old son. The relationship between her and this man lasted four years. In other words, a year before her ex-husband had an accident, she was with this man. Trieu Ngoc Phan said the police investigated that she and Tran Chi Cuong had a joint account, with a total amount of money circulating in it of more than eight hundred thousand yuan. Most of it is money that her mother's relatives transfer every month, plus the old woman's pension. Each account, one by one, accumulated over four years. I asked where more than eight hundred thousand yuan were spent. Trieu Ngoc Phan said, all was spent on Tran Chi Cuong. He has chronic kidney failure. Since three years ago, he has had to undergo dialysis twice a week. While waiting for a kidney, all expenses are paid by Truong Tu Lan. I picked up the phone and didn't say anything for a long time. Trieu Ngoc Phan sighed on the other end of the line. “Each dialysis session costs four or five hundred yuan, but it costs several thousand a month.” “Plus medicine, check-up and hospital fees.” “Three years have passed, more than eight hundred thousand yuan have been spent.” "Dialysis can only maintain life. If you want to continue living, you must have a kidney transplant." “The cost of kidney transplant surgery alone costs three hundred thousand yuan, not including anti-rejection medicine later.” “She didn't collect enough.” “That's why I targeted my mother.” After hanging up the phone, I sat on the balcony looking at the buildings in the distance. The sky gradually darkened and the street lights turned on one by one. I remember the first time she brought me Banh Chec. Then she smiled very gently. “Tieu Yeu, even if you live alone, you have to eat and drink properly.” I remember late that night she took me to the emergency room and stayed out in the hallway with me all night. I remember every time she went on a business trip, she told me to come and see her mother. I always think those kindnesses are real. She treated me well because she wanted me to take care of her mother. She took care of her ex-husband because she didn't want him to tell the truth about the accident. She risked her life to make money to save that man's life. She divided her life into countless pieces. Each piece has an effect, each piece contains calculation. The old lady lying in bed only had less than four thousand yuan of pension each month, plus money from relatives, each month was only more than ten thousand yuan. For ordinary people, that amount of money is enough to live on. But for a patient in need of a kidney transplant, that amount is far from enough. So she locked the old woman in the house, without food or water, letting her deteriorate day by day. The sooner the old lady dies, the sooner she will be freed from that house. The house is in the old lady's name and the market price is about six hundred thousand yuan. After the old lady passes away, the house will belong to her. Six hundred thousand yuan is enough for a kidney transplant and anti-rejection medicine for the first year. But she couldn't let anyone know that the old woman died because of her abuse. Therefore, she needs someone to take the blame for her. It's me. 12 I bowed my head and looked at my hands. These hands used to cook porridge for her mother, used to change bed sheets, used to empty the urinal. They almost became evidence that caused me to bear the burden of another person's life. The fourth month after moving, I met Aunt Vuong at the company. She came to this area to handle work and came to visit me. We sat in a cafe. She told me more stories that I didn't know. After Tran Chi Cuong's wife found out, she asked for a divorce. She printed out the entire transaction history of the joint account and then covered the notice board in the residential area. Aunt Vuong said that Tran Chi Cuong's wife led her maternal family to rush to the door of apartment 601 and stood there cursing for a whole day. At that time, Truong Tu Lan was detained, the door of apartment 601 was locked and sealed. She stood in front of the seal and scolded him, got tired of scolding, then sat on the ground crying. "She said that for the past few years she has been raising the children alone. Her husband said the company was working overtime, said he had to go on business trips, said he had to receive guests, she never suspected it." "Every penny of the money she saved was taken by Tran Chi Cuong and spent with Truong Tu Lan." I asked the other man how he was doing now. Aunt Vuong said he was still alive. Still on dialysis and still waiting for a kidney. After Truong Tu Lan was arrested, his dialysis costs were interrupted for a month, and he almost couldn't handle it. After that, his parents sold their house in the countryside to continue to have money for treatment. "That's why I said, this human life..." Aunt Vuong stirred the coffee in her cup but did not continue. Two months later, I saw news from the same city on Weibo. Apartment 601 at Cam Hoa apartment building was officially unsealed. The house will be jointly inherited by the old lady's legal heirs.