Chapter 14 — The House She Left Behind

The cultural house was arranged in advance by plainclothes police. If Luong Van Bach really appears, he will be arrested. If it's just an empty shell, then follow the traces he left behind. La Khai proactively said. “I approached the cultural house to receive people.” Officer Khuong looked at him. “Are you sure?” La Khai pulled the corner of his mouth. "My company was dragged into the water by him. I also want to know where he is hiding." He is not a good person. At least not good people in the traditional sense. But this time, his anger was real. When the car arrived at the ward office, it was almost ten o'clock at night. The building only has one floor with lights on. Ms. Lam waited for us at the door, holding a computer and a stack of documents in her lap. She is over thirty years old, her hair is tied very tightly, her face is full of fatigue. Seeing me, the first thing she said was sorry. “Miss Duong, sorry.” “When the process comes to me, I should be more careful.” I don't immediately blame her. I know the person who really did it was not you. But if every step uses the phrase "too busy" to ignore responsibility, people like Luong Van Bach will have gaps to slip into. Ms. Lam opened the video. In the picture, a woman wearing a black coat sits in front of a white wall. She was wearing a baseball cap and a mask, holding up a color printed copy of her identification card. Her voice was low. “I am Duong Duong.” “I voluntarily changed the account to receive compensation for renovating the old area to the account stated in the application.” “The related internal family debt is my responsibility.” I stared at the screen. Sounds like me. But the talking habits are different. I wouldn't say the phrase "internal family debt" so fluently. Police officer Khuong asked Ms. Lam. “Who uploaded this confirmation?” Ms. Lam opened the system behind her. “The account belongs to the project's temporary coordinator.” “The name is Manh Thu.” “She asked for leave this afternoon, saying the adults in the house were hospitalized.” “I called just now, but the phone was turned off.” Ha Ngoc Tran sat next to her and suddenly spoke up when she heard this. “I met this woman once.” They all looked at her. Her mother's face was very poor, but she tried to remember. “Last year when my eldest sister took me to get a pension card, there was a woman talking to her outside the bank.” “At that time, she was wearing a ward volunteer shirt.” “I asked who it was, the eldest sister said she was the person who helped with the procedures.” Ha Ngoc Mai stood at the door, as if someone had pushed her again. “She said her name was Tieu Manh.” “Thua Trach said she understands the policy of renovating the old area and can help ask about compensation.” “I thought she was really a member of the ward.” Ms. Lam immediately shook her head. “The ward does not have any official employee named Manh Thu.” "Temporary coordination staff are people from the outsourcing service unit, many of whom are only in charge of organizing documents." The testimony Tuong Thua Trach left behind before being taken to the hospital also matched. Luong Van Bach does not work alone. He woven brokers, outsourced employees, old relationships with financiers, and relatives' weaknesses into one chain. At this time, police officer Khuong received a phone call from the cultural house. Plainclothes police could not wait for Luong Van Bach. They only found a phone thrown in the trash at the back door. The phone screen is broken. Inside there was only a draft that was set to be sent hourly. If Duong Duong reaches the ward, activate the second option. Ms. Lam's computer suddenly made a notification sound. The back-end process status has changed. An application that may be temporarily paused is forced into the review stage by a newly uploaded document. The document's name is Notice of Judicial Preservation Coordination. In the applicant section, write the representative of thirty-seven employees of Tuong Thua Trach company. 15 Ms. Lam stared at the screen, her expression immediately changed. “This document does not go through our regular counter.” “It comes in from a district level foundation.” Police Officer Khuong asked. “Can we stop first?” Ms. Lam's fingers typed on the keyboard very quickly. “My authority is not enough.” “If it is truly preserving justice, the grassroots level cannot arbitrarily stop it.” I looked at the list of applicants. Thirty-seven names. They are not Luong Van Bach. Nor is it Chiang Thua Ze. Maybe they just

are those who are owed wages. I suddenly understood the most cruel part of Luong Van Bach. He turned my compensation into money that saved the lives of many people. If I stop, someone will stand up and say I was unintentional. As long as I don't stop, my mother and I will be eaten by them. Ha Ngoc Tran also understands. Her lips were white. “Are these employees… really owed money?” Ha Ngoc Mai said in a low voice. “It's true.” “Thua Trach Company has not paid salaries for two months.” “There was a worker whose child had to have surgery and once came home crying.” Having finished speaking, she herself bowed her head first. Previously, she placed those sufferings at my door to force us to give in. Now she discovered that Luong Van Bach also used her soft heart to pressure her. I asked Ms. Lam. “Who filed this preservation petition?” Ms. Lam opened the rotation history. “The representative is the legal department of Dinh Hanh Consulting.” “The contact person is Manh Thu.”