Chapter 25 — The Child You Never Knew

“That's good.” Tieu Chau let go of her hand and climbed onto the cushion in front of the tea table to turn the next assignment page, "Progress is better than no progress. But I still don't like him."

“Because he used to make me cry.” Tieu Chau bowed her head to do her homework, "If you make your mother cry, no matter how advanced you are, you won't forgive her."

Khuong Niem stood in the middle of the living room, looking at the back of his son's head. Sunlight poured in from the window, shining on the boy's soft silky hair. She returned to the kitchen, turned the stove back on, and reheated the overflowing pot of soup. Hands no longer shake. On the fourth day after the interview was published, Wen Tam Duyet finally had to publicly reveal himself. Not voluntarily. Instead, he was summoned to the authorities for investigation. When he walked out, reporters blocked him right at the door. The image spread quickly online. Wen Tam Duyet wore a mask and hat, sunglasses covering more than half of his face, and was surrounded by three staff members and stuffed into the car. The reporters' microphones were pointed like spears.

“Wen Tam Duyet, how do you respond to the accusations of your former assistant?”

“What is the truth about the bullying video three years ago?”

“Do you admit that you were behind the orchestration of cyber violence targeting Khuong Niem?”

Wen Tam Duyet did not answer any questions. Her steps were very fast, almost as if she was being picked up and thrown into the car. But right at the moment the car door closed, the mask blew at an angle because of her panting. The lens caught those lips — pale, tense, as if it took all of their strength not to scream. This clip is cropped, enlarged, and spread. The top comment is: *"This is what she looks like when she can't cry. Three years ago, Khuong Niem cried so honestly, what about now?"* On the same day, the Pho Group released a second announcement. More decisive words than last time: Official statement terminating all commercial cooperation with Wen Tam Duyet's office, reclaiming paid advertising costs, and reserving the right to pursue legal liability for false advertising acts. The last paragraph of the announcement clearly states: *"Pho Group absolutely does not tolerate any individual or organization taking advantage of the company's resources to commit wrongdoing."* When La Dong finished reading this announcement over the phone, his tone carried an extremely refreshing serenity. "Niem Niem, did you hear that? What Pho Tu Nien did was to publicly cut off relations with Wen Tam Duyet in front of the entire industry. Completely cut it off. The kind that doesn't leave any way out."

“I heard it.”

“How do you feel?”

Khuong Niem placed the freshly washed vegetables on the cutting board, holding a knife to slice them one by one. “I don't feel anything.”

"How come you don't feel anything? It's been three years! The injustice of three years has finally been washed away today! Don't you feel refreshed at all?"

Khuong Niem poured the vegetables into a plate and washed her hands. "La Dong, do you think a person's life was ruined for three years, and today someone stands up and says 'Oh, wrong, she was wronged', can make those three years disappear?" La Dong fell silent.

"When Tieu Chau was two years old, he had a high fever of up to 40 degrees. I carried him and ran to three hospitals. That night, his fever subsided and he fell asleep. I sat alone on the hospital bench and turned on my phone. Up, what caught my eye were thousands of private messages cursing. Some people say I deserve to be thrown away, some say my child won't have a good ending."

Khuong Niem's voice did not tremble at all, but La Dong on the other end of the line no longer had any sound.

“That night, I thought about giving up.” Khuong Niem said, "I really thought, let go of everything, turn off the phone, take Tieu Chau to a place where no one can find her, and never appear again."

“And then what?” La Dong's voice is very soft.

“Then Tieu Chau woke up. The boy's fever subsided and he looked at me and asked, "Mom, why don't you sleep?" Khuong Niem put the last plate in the cupboard, "That's when I thought, I still can't give up. At least I have to wait until the boy grows up."

Neither end of the phone line said anything.

“So you asked me how I feel.” Khuong Niem finally spoke up, "It's not that it's refreshing. It's that there's finally no need to wait anymore."

“So what do you want to do now?”

"Cook rice. Pick up Tieu Chau after school. Then do homework with your child."

La Dong took a deep breath. "Okay. Just do your job. But tonight I'll bring you both a cake."

“What cake?”

"To celebrate. Regardless of whether you think it's worth celebrating or not, I'm celebrating for you."

Khuong Niem burst out laughing. "Don't buy something that's too sweet. Tieu Chau doesn't like sweets."

“I know, I know, your son is as picky about eating as an old man.”

Hanging up the phone, Khuong Niem leaned against the kitchen counter and stood for a moment. Outside the window is the skyline of Lam Giang old town, the setting sun dyes the sky bright red in the distance. She suddenly remembered something. Open the phone, go to Ha Than's chat box, type a line: *"The intermediary in the past probed Pho Tu Nien's attitude towards Wen Tam Duyet, has he investigated yet?"* Ha Than replied a little slower than usual. Two minutes later the new message arrived: *"It's been investigated. It's a housekeeper next to Mrs. Pho. Mrs. Pho knows about it."* Khuong Niem stared at the last four words. The deputy lady knew about it. Years ago, before creating that video, Wen Tam Duyet, through an intermediary, probed Pho Tu Nien's attitude. That intermediary is the person next to the Deputy Lady. The deputy lady knew about it. This means that that year the Deputy Lady did not simply “not object”. She may have been involved, or at least tacitly approved. Khuong Niem put the phone in her pocket and walked out of the kitchen. She sat at the table and took out the signed educational trust fund document from the drawer. She read it again. The terms are clear, management rights belong to her, there are no obligations. But who is this trust fund promoted by?