Chapter 9 — Secret Explosive Burning of Cow Dung

"The origin is from documents donated by the old archive room of Lien Thuy village primary school, currently still in the verification process."

The big screen lights up. It was a yellowed student registration form. In place of the photo is a little girl with snail horns tied in her hair. The full name column reads: Bach Tieu Nhiem. The guardian column reads: Duong Thuy Phuong. The relationship column is not mother and child. It's my aunt. In the studio, there were sounds of deep, suppressed breathing. Bach Nhiem glared at the big screen. This time her tears did not fall. She seemed to forget she was standing in front of the camera. I also stared at that slip. Duong Thuy Phuong is her aunt. So why was she photographed with village chief Nguu Vinh Phuc, then hidden under an iron box at the foot of the wall? Niu Dai Dung suddenly spoke, his voice hoarse and urgent.

“That's enough!”

“You guys are just an entertainment show, what right do you have to show my family's stuff?”

Tham Kieu frowned.

"Mr. Nguu, the first person to pull out the iron box and ask questions was you."

Nuu Dai Dung was speechless. Luc Van Da continued in a faint voice.

“Don't you want to ask Van Duong where that box went?”

“Now I also want to ask you.”

“In that iron box, something was missing.”

Nuu Dai Dung's face turned pale.

“There is no shortage.”

Luc Van Da asked: "How do you know there is no shortage?" Niu Dai Dung closed his mouth. Comments flow quickly.

“He's frantic.”

“Nuu Dai Dung slapped himself in the face.”

"What's missing in the box?"

"What is the relationship between Bach Nhiem and the village chief's house?"

I sat under the light and suddenly felt a chill down my spine. The wall that I blew up as a child turned out to be more than just a wall. It's like a layer of dirt, suppressing things that others don't want to see come to light. I raised my head and asked Luc Van Da.

“What is missing?”

Luc Van Da looked at me. This time he did not answer immediately. His silence was so obvious. It was so clear that my heart sank.

“What does it have to do with me?”

Luc Van Da opened his mouth.

“About your mother.”

My fingers clenched the edge of the table. Bach Nhiem suddenly interrupted with a high-pitched voice.

"Luc Van Da, stop talking nonsense!"

Her reaction was so great that even Quy Hanh turned to look. Tham Kieu suppressed the scene.

“Bach Nhiem, please let Mr. Luc finish speaking.”

Bach Nhiem's chest heaved, his tone softened.

“I just think it's useless to bring up the privacy of our elders to get views.”

I looked at her.

"Earlier, you used the story of my injustice as a child to gain views, and it looked very cool."

Bach Nhiem's face stiffened. Luc Van Da flipped open the last page in the old notebook. That's not diary paper. It's like half a sheet of letter paper torn from a notebook somewhere. The paper surface is yellowed and the folds are very deep. He said: "In the iron box there was a letter."

“The letter was torn.”

“The day Niu Dai Dung took the box away, he dropped half of it.”

“Van Duong has picked it up.”

My head is empty. Can I pick it up? Luc Van Da looked at me, his tone softer than before.

"At that time, she was illiterate, so she put it in her diary and told me to read it to her later."

I stared at that half of a piece of paper, the memory felt like someone forcefully pushed open an old door. Under the back tree from the road. Broken bricks covered the ground. Along with a piece of muddy paper. At that time I only recognized one word. Road. I recognized my name. So I picked up the paper. Tham Kieu asked in a low voice: "What is written in the letter?" Luc Van Da lowered his eyes and looked at the words on the paper.

“Only half a sentence left.”

*"If the Van family still questions the child's background, tell them to go find Nguu Vinh Phuc."* My ears made a ringing sound. Bach Nhiem took half a step back.