Chapter 17 — The Code in the Tangerine Garden

The village cultural house was full of people before Thu could hang the map on the wall.

Six old households were invited, along with Mai, Mrs. Man, Huy and company representatives. Quan is still at the hospital but connected by a large screen. Na lay next to him, holding a drawing book in her hand. Mr. Nghiem could not go, so he sent his daughter-in-law to bring calendars. Mr. Bay walked with a cane, but was the first to arrive.

The letter puts the original agreement in a transparent bag and does not give it to anyone to hold. The district attorney sat next to her, instructing the meeting to distinguish between three things: confirming usage history, determining current rights, and deciding on the future. No one can turn a memory into an order to sell land.

Ms. Van arrived with two legal representatives. Tran Khai did not appear. Dang Dung sat at the back of the room, his wrist still bandaged. Huy stood between the two sides, not wearing his company card.

The village chief knocked on the table.

"Today is not a trial. Whoever has the paper should give it, and whoever remembers something should say it."

Mr. Bay stood up first. He told of six families digging ditches after the drought, each contributing land and labor. Mrs. Luu does not own the land but digs the first section, maintains the valve and teaches children to read the water calendar. He said that was not recorded enough in the cadastral book because at that time people considered ditches to be temporary works.

Ms. Van asked: "Do you have a paper proving that Mrs. Luu has rights?"

Mr. Bay pointed to the original. “Signed.”

“Can this signature be notarized?”

“In the old days, communes had stamps.”

The lawyer explained that old documents need to be evaluated by competent authorities, but they are still evidence of the process of use, contribution and agreement. It cannot be dismissed just because there is no modern legal language.

Mai spoke after Mr. Bay. She said her mother did not receive a refund for her contribution. Mom just asked that names be read at every meeting about the ditch. She handed over the notebook, tape and confirmation from the breeding station.

Ms. Van flipped the paper. “You are not the one who owns the land.”

“I don't accept land,” Mai replied. “I accepted the invitation to enter the ring.”

The words made the whole room silent.

Huy presented the cold storage design. He said the industrial well is located above the tank, and the drainage line cuts through an old ditch. The company conducted a test smoking survey without agreement with six households. Ms. Van objected, saying that Huy no longer represented the company.

“I don't represent,” Huy said. “I am the person who signed the access document and am responsible for that signature.”

Letter providing water samples, photos of joints and records of trees being cut down. Commune police confirmed that they had received reports of intrusion and vandalism, but had not yet concluded who ordered it. Dung admitted entering the area, Khai was summoned but did not arrive.

Ms. Van said: "The company does not deny the history of water use. But the current land use rights belong to the new owners. A verbal agreement cannot be used to ban a planned project."

The letter replied: "We do not ban the project. We request that the project not destroy the rights of others."

“If there is no transfer, the family cannot repay the debt.”

Quan appears on the screen. He heard that sentence, his face was tired but clear.

"My family's debt does not give the company the right to buy water. If necessary, please come up with a debt repayment plan that does not destroy the system."

Ms. Van asked: "Are you willing to give up a higher purchase price to keep the garden?"

Quan looked at Na, then looked at the people in the cultural house.

"I don't know yet. But I want to know what the price is for keeping and what the price is for selling."

Thu felt that answer more important than a statement.

The lawyer proposed to make a temporary confirmation record: the six households and Ms. Luu's representative have the right to participate in deciding on all projects affecting the tank; Neither party may change valves, connect pipes or cut trees within sixty-six steps until the professional agency has completed the measurements. All land transactions must include information about water rights.

Ms. Van objected to the "representative of Ms. Luu" clause.

Mai said: "If you leave me, you must erase my mother's name from the original. If you can do that, delete it."

No one can say.

Mrs. Man brought the old seal of the country and placed it on the table. The ink has dried, but the six-part circle is still clear.

“Tan kept this for twenty years,” she said. “He said you can't do it if there aren't enough people.”

The village chief looked at each household. The Seventh Dynasty signed, the Hoa Dynasty signed, and the Fifth Dynasty signed. One household moved away and sent their son to replace them. The sixth household is Huy's house. Huy's mother could not come because she was undergoing treatment, but Huy brought a power of attorney.

He holds the pen. Before signing, Ms. Van called him out.

“You are destroying your professional records.”

“I am confirming my house's land.”

“The company will sue you.”

"I know."

“You will lose your job.”

"I know."

Ms. Van lowered her voice. "Khai said someone in his family has agreed to sell. You don't need to be a good person here."

Huy looked into the room. "Who?"

“Just ask Thu.”

Huy turned back, but didn't ask right away. He signed the minutes as his family's representative.

When six households signed, Mai held the seal. She didn't close it right away. She looked at Thu.

“Do the minutes say I was invited to the meetings?”

"Have."

“Does it say my mother's name?”

"Have."

Mai stamped.

The sound of rubber hitting paper was small but clear. The soldier on the screen closed his eyes and exhaled. Na held up the notebook and placed seven dots in a circle.

After that, Thu publicly announced the land purchase proposal and the design. She pointed out the water access rights, well coordinates and the clause did not say the cost of restoring the tank. Quan gave water pressure data. Mr. Nghiem sent the calendar. Mai submitted photos and audio recordings.

Company representatives cannot refute everything at once. They asked for time to view the file and asked the family not to distribute the video.

Lam said: "The video will be kept original. Whether or not it will be made public will be decided by the people named in it."

Ms. Van looked at him. “Are you planning on making a movie?”

“I plan to file.”

The meeting ended with a provisional agreement, not yet a victory. The company must stop the water absorption survey and cannot enter the garden without notice. The family must maintain the status quo, not destroy the stake or retaliate. Police continue to investigate the tree destruction. The households agreed to invite an independent measurement expert.

Outside the cultural house, Quan called Thu. “I asked Huy who in the house agreed.”

Thu looked at Huy. “I heard.”

Huy went to the tangerine tree in the front yard. “My mother received a reservation fee from the company.”

Quan was silent on the phone.

"How much?" Thu asked.

"Not much. But enough for them to say my family has agreed in principle."

“Since when do you know?”

“Last night.”

“Another hidden thing.”

Huy nodded. “I want to ask my mother first.”

“Does your mother know that's the put money?”

“She thought the money would support treatment.”

Thu turned away. She didn't know whether to blame Huy or pity a mother who received money while she was sick.

Lam approached and gave Huy a recording. "In the section below the tank, the second person asked about Huy's family. Maybe they are Use that money as pressure.”

Huy listened for a few seconds, then turned it off.

“I will return it.”

“What do you pay with?” Quan asked over the phone.

Huy looked at the minutes with six signatures and Ms. Luu's name. “By saying the money exists.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Thu's phone received a text message from an unsaved number:

Mail does not respond to messages. She took a screenshot, sent it to the lawyer and asked to record the pressure. Huy said the phone number could be the contractor's, but it's not certain. Mai said that since her mother passed away, she still receives silent calls every dry season.

“Your mother was threatened?” Thu asked.

“No. Just being reminded that people without land should not sit in meetings.”

Mrs. Man put her hand on Mai's shoulder. “Tomorrow you sit next to me.”

In the cultural house, representatives of households take turns reading the parts they remember. There is a disagreement: Mr. Hoa said the ditch was opened that year, his son remembered it was a season later; The Nam family believes that their land has been demarcated; Mr. Bay forgot the name of the person who signed for him. Lawyers do not hide conflicts. He wrote down both statements for the professional agency to compare.

Ms. Van asked why Tan's family kept the original for so many years.

The letter replied: “Because everyone gave it to my father. It is a responsibility, not an ownership.”

“And now you want the country to keep the original?”

"Are not. The original will be kept at the notary office or designated place, and the certified copy will be distributed to households. The country only keeps the operating version.”

Quan said through the screen: “I used to think whoever holds the key has the right. Now I understand that the key only works when someone else opens it."

Na held up the seven-dot board. The company representative smiled, but no one in the room laughed.

When the temporary minutes were drawn up, Thu requested four additional things: prohibit cutting trees in the protected area; All surveys must be notified in advance; Water data must be shared; People who do not own land but are named in the agreement must be invited.

The legal director asked what the fourth article was based on.

Mai pointed to her mother's signature. “Based on the promise, the company wants to buy the land.”

Huy signed his mother's authorization form. His signature trembled in the last stroke, but did not correct it.

Dang Dung would like to say. He admitted that he followed Khai, but said that Ms. Van knew the appendix. Ms. Van was not present, the company representative objected. The village head requested that this part be transferred to the investigation agency.

The meeting did not produce a verdict. It creates a period of time that no one can break. That amount of time was enough for six households to register the application, enough for the expert to re-measure the water, and enough for the family not to sign because they were afraid.

After everyone left, Huy stood next to the map.

“I brought in the purchase price before I understood,” he said.

Quan asked: "Do you regret it?"

"Have. But I regret not returning the tree.”

Lam gave him a copy of his father's video. “Then you pay by standing in the rest.”

Huy receives USB.

As soon as he finished speaking, Thu's phone received a text message from an unsaved number:

“The circle has opened. But the person holding the key has not yet chosen the door.”

“The circle has opened. But the person holding the key has not yet chosen the door.”