Chapter 8 — The Beggar Husband Turns Out to Be a Dragon

Two weeks after the wedding, Tuyet Nhi and Bach Tranh's life in the small house gradually fell into order. She still goes to work at the group's charity fund every day, and he, according to his promise to Giang Chan Hung, has started taking a part-time consulting job for a small company thanks to his profound knowledge that no one knows where he learned it from.

One weekend afternoon, while cleaning out the closet to arrange the space more neatly, Tuyet Nhi happened to see an old, worn canvas bag, carefully hidden in the corner of the closet, behind a pile of winter coats. She immediately recognized that it was the tattered clothes Bach Tranh wore the night she saved him, something she thought had been thrown away a long time ago.

Curious, she opened the bag to look, and inside, in addition to a few torn pieces of cloth, she found a small object carefully wrapped in a layer of old, discolored silk. She opened the fabric, and a piece of jade appeared before her eyes, engraved with an amazingly delicate image of a curled dragon, the sharp lines as if carved by a master craftsman and not an ordinary piece of jewelry.

The strangest thing was that, when she held the piece of jade in her hand, she felt a slight warmth emanating from it, unusually warm compared to room temperature, and for a moment, she thought she saw the lines on the dragon's body engraved on the jade slightly shaking, emitting a faint blue light, but when she looked closely, that light had disappeared, leaving only a piece of jade as still as any other antique.

"What are you doing?" Bach Tranh's voice suddenly sounded behind her, causing her to turn around in surprise, still holding the jade pendant in her hand.

"I... I was cleaning out the closet and I happened to see this." She replied, holding out the piece of jade in front of him. "What is this? It looks so ancient and delicate, not like something one person... that I thought you could get."

Bach Tranh looked at the piece of jade in her hand. At that moment, his eyes flashed with a complex and unpredictable light. A bit of panic flashed very quickly. Then he quickly regained his composure and walked over to gently take the piece of jade from her hand.

"This is the only relic left from my family." He said, his voice was low, a bit heavy. "It was the only thing I had with me when... when everything happened."

"Your family?" Tuyet Nhi sat down next to her, her eyes gently encouraging. "You never told me about your family. What happened to them?"

Bach Tranh was silent for a long time, his hands clasped the piece of jade pendant, his eyes looked far away as if recalling something painful. "My family once encountered a major incident, forcing me to leave everything and live on the streets for many years." He said, his voice choosing each word carefully. "This is not a story I can tell all in one afternoon, and it's not the right time to tell it all. Can you trust me a little longer?"

Tuyet Nhi looked at him, seeing real pain in his eyes, not fake, she nodded without asking further. "I trust you. When you're ready, tell me."

Bach Tranh squeezed her hand, his eyes filled with gratitude. "Thank you, for always being patient with me."

The incident seemed to have ended there, but just a few days later, another incident occurred, causing Bach Tranh's secret to almost be exposed to more people.

That day, the couple and Giang Chan Hung went on a business trip to a suburban industrial park to inspect a new investment project. On the way back, their car passed through a bridge across a large river, and right after passing the middle of the bridge, a cargo truck in front suddenly lost control, rammed into a car running parallel, causing the car to go straight over the bridge railing, falling into the fast-flowing river below.

"Oh my God!" Tuyet Nhi screamed, looking at the horrifying scene happening right before her eyes. Their car quickly stopped, everyone around also panicked and pulled over. Some people ran to the railing to look down, but no one dared to jump into the fast water to save people because it was too dangerous.

"There are people in the car!" Someone shouted, pointing down at the car that was sinking in the swirling water.

Without a second of hesitation, Bach Tranh opened the car door and ran quickly toward the bridge railing. "Bach Tranh, what are you going to do!" Tuyet Nhi called out in panic, but he climbed over the railing and jumped straight into the river from a height of dozens of meters without hesitation.

Everyone around them simultaneously gasped in surprise. Jumping from that height, if it were a normal person, would be enough to cause serious injury when entering the water, but Bach Tranh dived down with a strangely precise posture, almost without making a loud noise when hitting the water, as if his body was born familiar with the water.

Under the turbid water, Bach Tranh swam to the sinking car at an incredibly fast speed, faster than any professional swimmer could achieve. He grabbed the stuck car door and pulled hard, the thick metal door bent and burst open as if it were just a thin piece of cardboard.

Inside the car, a woman and a small child were struggling in panic, running out of oxygen. Bach Tranh pulled them both out, hugged them tightly, then kicked his feet decisively, pushing all three people out of the water with an unbelievable force, as if someone was launching them from the bottom of the river.

On the shore, everyone shouted in surprise when they saw the three people rising to the surface, and Bach Tranh, with just a few arm spans, swam all three people to shore in a record short time, a time that any professional rescue team could hardly achieve.

"Are you okay?" Tuyet Nhi ran to him with tears in her eyes and hugged him as soon as he stepped ashore. Her body was still wet but her breathing was strangely steady, showing no signs of exhaustion like someone who had just gone through a life-or-death swim.

"I'm okay." Bach Tranh replied, his arms wrapped around her, his eyes glanced around, realizing that there were several phones raised to record the scene just now, a feeling of worry flashed through his heart.

Giang Chan Hung, standing nearby, looked at his son-in-law with indescribably complex eyes, both surprised and somewhat suspicious. He was not someone who easily accepted conventional explanations for such an extraordinary act.

"Where did you learn to swim so well?" He asked, trying to keep his voice natural, but his eyes were still fixed on Bach Tranh.

"I lived near the river for many years when I was a wanderer." Bach Tranh replied, trying to find a reasonable reason. "Maybe that's why I'm used to swimming in fast water."

That answer was somewhat forced, but in an urgent situation that had just saved two lives, no one had the heart to ask further. However, that night, when videos of Bach Tranh jumping from the bridge into the river to save people began to spread on social networks, many viewers commented on the unusual speed and power in the video, although the image was quite blurry and far away so no one dared to confirm anything for sure.

The woman and child who were saved that day, after being discharged from the hospital, tried to contact them to thank them directly, but Bach Tranh politely refused all invitations to meet publicly, only sending a message to Tuyet Nhi that he was happy that they were safe, and that there was no need to repay anything further. His avoidance of media attention, although appearing modest in the eyes of outsiders, actually comes from a fear of being exposed more than anyone can imagine.

"Why don't you want to meet them?" Tuyet Nhi asked, a little confused at her husband's unusual avoidance. "They just want to thank you."

"I'm not used to being the center of attention." Bach Tranh replied, trying to find a reasonable reason not to have to explain further. "Besides, saving people is the right thing to do, there's no need to be thanked like that."

Tuyet Nhi nodded, although in her heart she still felt there was something wrong with that explanation, a deliberate avoidance rather than simple humility.

That night, when the couple returned home, Tuyet Nhi sat next to Bach Tranh, her eyes looking at him thoughtfully. "Mr. Bach Tranh, today you scared me very much, but also made me feel extremely proud. You are truly an extraordinary person."

"I just did what needed to be done." Bach Tranh replied, his hand gently caressing her hair. His eyes were gentle but hidden deep inside was an unnamed worry. He knew that after today's incident, along with the piece of jade that Tuyet Nhi accidentally discovered, signs of his true identity were gradually revealed, little by little, like pieces of a big picture that will sooner or later be complete, no matter how hard he tries to hide it.

And in a remote place, hidden behind the thick fog of Long Uyen, news of the video spreading on human social networks reached the ears of one of Diep Thua Uy's most trusted henchmen, who is day and night investigating all unusual traces in the human world to find the whereabouts of the crown prince who has been missing for the past six years.