Chapter 12 — The Fateful Trial

When I heard it, chills ran down my spine: "That's my son's birth certificate." Tong Uyen shook her head: "But behind that file is Ha Binh's photo." Ha Binh looked up: "My photo?" Tong Uyen shed tears: "Yes. She said she just needs to go through the procedure smoothly first, then she can slowly correct the age on the household registration. She said that as long as Duong Hoa is still in confinement, no one will check carefully." Lam Mai loudly interrupted: "Tong Uyen, think carefully before speaking!" Tong Uyen pretended not to hear and continued:

"At that time I asked, what happens to a three-month-old baby? She said the child hasn't gone to school yet, it's okay to add the name later. She also said that Duong Hoa is easy to handle, Ha Tuan will also stand by her side."

I turned to look at Ha Tuan. Ha Tuan felt like someone was strangling him, he couldn't utter a word for half a day. I asked him softly: "Do you know too?" His eye sockets turned red: "I didn't know mom used An An's birth certificate code. I only know she wanted Ha Binh to temporarily hang her household registration on her house. Mom said the time to register for compensation was about to expire, if you missed it, you'd lose your spot. Mom said you'll have to wait until the compensation is over to fix everything back to the way it was." I could barely force a smile:

"Rechange it to the way it was before? A series of birth codes of a person, a child's household registration number, that you can use as a door swipe card, can you change it if you want?"

The police officer immediately took that copy. He used his phone to take a photo of the code and went to a corner to call to verify. The courtroom was silent, only the soft breathing of little An An could be heard. Phung Le Le leaned against the wall and cried, Vuong Xao Tran sat down on the chair, like a lost soul unable to make a sound. Vien Ban bowed his head to arrange documents, but his hands were shaking. Lam Mai still tried to resist:

"Everyone, don't listen to Tong Uyen's nonsense. In the past, she was not average. Now, to deny her guilt, of course she dares to blame everything on me."

Tong Uyen turned to look at her: "Lam Mai, it was you who said that Ha Binh only needed to take over this name and the ancestral family would be given an additional share of the house when they were demolished. It was also you who said that Duong Hoa had just given birth, his mind was dull, and he did not dare to tear his face against the Ha family." Lam Mai laughed: "Where's the evidence?" Tong Uyen's face was pale white. Seeing this, Lam Mai's mentality became stronger: "If you don't have evidence, then keep your mouth shut. Your signature, your phone, your text message. Who knows if it's because you want to extort money that you're messing things up like this." Tong Uyen looked at her stunned. At that moment, I saw extreme despair in her eyes. She originally thought Lam Mai would protect her. But Lam Mai just wants to get rid of her as a scapegoat. The policeman came in, his expression even more serious than before.

"The hospital system initially responded, Ms. Duong Hoa's son's birth certificate code did exist normally. But in the police station's records, when Ha Binh completed the name change procedure and additional import documents, a copy with the same code also appeared."

My head buzzed. Judge Tuong frowned: "The same series of codes appears in the records of two different minors?" The police nodded: "Currently it shows that it is so." Lam Mai immediately defended: "I just clipped the wrong copy." The police officer looked at her: "Mrs. Lam, this is not a matter of using the word 'clamp.' wrong' is not an explanation. If someone intentionally uses a newborn's records to prepare identity paperwork for another minor, it is extremely serious." Lam Mai's lips moved, but in the end she couldn't say another word. I hugged An An and bent down to look at her. The baby sleeps so well, so soft. Yet in their eyes, his name, his birth certificate, his household registration, all became cards to trade for a house.