Chapter 5 — The Day You Sent Me To Jail

After getting married, only to find out the sky is falling, that's enough flavor. 1:30 p.m. Uncle Tien sent another message. 【Uncle Tien: The wedding is over. Ring given, kiss. The guests are dispersing.】 Right after that came the second news. 【Uncle Tien: The news has spread. All over the world there are rumors that Chinh Hang is about to withdraw capital from Tham Thi. Several investment fund managers called me to ask if it was true.】 Then came the third news. 【Uncle Tien: Tham Yen Bach knows. His secretary said his face turned pale and he threw his phone to pieces.】 I put down my coffee cup. The corner of the mouth raised into a curve. It's comfortable. Less than 10 minutes after the third text message, my phone vibrated. Some strange. Domestic area code. I don't listen. It rang 12 times and then cut itself off. Then it rang again. Still the same number. I turned off the bell and continued eating salmon. The third time, the other end of the line changed tactics – sending a text message. 【Khuong Duong, where are you? We need to talk. — Tham Yen Bach】 I looked at that message, my thumb stopped on the screen. Need to talk? Two days before you locked me in the detention center, do you need to talk? When you signed that detention paper, did you need to talk? When the security guard dragged me out from the 32nd floor, did you need to talk? I delete the message. Then open your contacts and block that number. Outside the window, a swan swam by. I looked at it for a while, then got up and went to the bathroom to wash my hair. Hot water poured down my back, steam rose up, covering the mirror with a layer of mist. I used my finger to draw a smiley face on the frost. Then conveniently delete it. Don't laugh anymore. There's nothing to laugh about. 8 p.m. Zurich time. It must have been 2 a.m. in the country. Uncle Tien sent the last text message of the day. 【Uncle Tien: Tham Yen Bach has arrived at the detention center. Go in person. After the wedding, we went straight there. His clothes had not been changed, the vest still had the wedding flower tied on his chest.】 【Uncle Tien: The warden told him that Khuong Duong had been released at 2pm yesterday.】 【Uncle Tien: I heard that he stood still in front of the prison gate for 15 minutes without moving.】 【Uncle Tien: The assistant asked what to do. He didn't say anything.】 15 minutes. Stand for 15 minutes. I can completely imagine that scene. 2 a.m. in front of the detention center gate. The street lights were yellow. He wore a groom's suit, white roses on his chest, standing in front of that cold iron door. The iron door is tightly closed. There's no longer me inside. He probably never thought in his entire life that one day he would have to stand in front of the prison gate looking for a woman. Don't even think about it, that woman is no longer there. I put down the phone and turned off the light. The night in Zurich is very quiet. The gap in the curtain let in a streak of moonlight, imprinted on the floor like a small galaxy. I closed my eyes. No dreams at all. 【Chapter 5】 Third day. Monday. The domestic stock market is open. 9:30 a.m. I sat in a coffee shop in the hotel lobby, a laptop in front of me. On the screen is the actual stock price chart of Tham Thi Group. Opening price: 42.6. 9 hours 31 minutes: 41.8. 9 hours 35 minutes: 39.2. 9:40 a.m.: Reduce drama to the floor. The entire process takes less than 10 minutes. Sell-off orders were released like crazy. Organization run away, individual investors run away, even market makers run away. Rumors of Chinh Hang withdrawing capital have spread since last night. Everyone knows that if the Tham family loses its biggest "golden master", it is like a ship with a broken skeleton. I raised my cup of coffee. Americano, no sugar. Bitter. But drinking it again today doesn't feel too bitter. The phone rang. It's Uncle Tien.