Chapter 6 — The Last Gift Is Goodbye

"Send a lawyer's letter to the Vienna Music Association, requesting to extract the behind-the-scenes surveillance tape of the 2021 International Piano Competition final. At the same time, report to Beijing - poisoning."

Vuong Van was silent for two seconds.

"Who do you want to sue?"

"For now, don't point out names, just report the case to get confirmation first.

Wait until you have the surveillance tape in hand, see clearly who that person is and then calculate."

"I got it."

The day before leaving for Switzerland, trouble struck. At nine o'clock in the evening, I had just finished packing my luggage when my phone received an anonymous text message. Attachment is a photo. In the photo is an old apartment building, three stories high, with yellowing spring couplets stuck on the windows. Below is a line of text: "Do you know Professor Trieu's daughter lives here?" My blood suddenly turned cold. Professor Trieu. Trieu Duc Hinh. My piano teacher passed away from a brain hemorrhage six years ago. The teacher's only daughter is Trieu Nhat Nhien, nineteen years old this year, and is a second-year student at the Beijing Conservatory of Music. I dialed Trieu Nhat Nhien's number. No one answered the phone. Call again. Still no one picked up the phone. Only the third time did the other end of the wire connect.

"Miss Niem Niem?" Nhat Nhien's voice was dreamy as if he had just woken up.

"Where are you?"

"Dormitory, what's going on?"

"It's good that you're okay. Has anyone been looking for you lately? A stranger."

"No...What's wrong, your voice sounds tense?"

"Nothing.

Don't go out alone in the next few days, call me right away if anything happens."

"Yes...yes."

Hanging up, I took a screenshot of that anonymous message sent to Tham Dien. He responded very quickly.

"I know. Tomorrow someone will come near her school, don't worry."

"They are threatening me."

"Exaggeration. You touched Co Hoai Tham's three hundred million, and you're still checking the surveillance tape from three years ago. It's strange that they didn't panic."

"Is this done by Co Hoai Tham? Or Giang Uyen Thanh?"

"It's all possible. Right now I just need to do one thing right."

"Go to Switzerland, get your arm cured. Leave the rest to me."

"Why should I trust you?"

"Because besides me, you have no other choice."

I stared at the phone screen for a long time. You're right. I have no other choice. Center for Hand Surgery at Zurich University Hospital. The chief surgeon's name is Hermann Keller, in his fifties, gray hair, and when talking, he has a habit of tapping the table with a pen.

"The damage to these three fingers of hers is mainly concentrated in the second and third interphalangeal joints." He looked at the X-ray and said, "The torn ligament then healed on its own, but the healing direction was not correct, causing compression on the ulnar nerve."

"Can it be recovered, doctor?"

"You can try. You need to incise the joint capsule, correct the direction of the ligament, and perform decompression of the ulnar nerve."

"What is the success rate?"

"Combining your age and time of injury — I give you a figure of about 55% to 60%."

"If successful, how much recovery can be achieved?"

"There's absolutely no problem with daily activities. But if you want to perform professionally... you have to look at the rehabilitation process after surgery. In the best case, you can recover 85% compared to before the injury." love."

For normal people, that's more than enough. But for a pianist who once stood on the stage of Vienna's Golden Hall—

"Can I restore it to competition level?" I asked.

Dr. Keller put down his pen and looked at me seriously.

“That depends on how much you're willing to pay. Medicine can only help you so far, you have to continue the rest of the way on your own."

I nodded.

"Let's do it, doctor."

Surgery was scheduled for three days later. When leaving the hospital, Tham Dien called.

"What did the doctor say?"

"55% to 60%."

"It's almost the same as expected."

"How's it going with you?

Is Nhat Nhien okay?"

"It's okay. I sent someone to pick her up from the dormitory to Tham Gia's apartment. She is very safe now."

"Thank you."

"There's one more thing. The Vienna Music Association has responded to lawyer Vuong Yun's letter."

"What did they say?"

"The behind-the-scenes surveillance tape from three years ago has been extracted. They copied the original images onto a CD, which is now being sent by international courier. It will arrive in Vuong Yun's hands in about five days."

By the time I'm done with surgery, that plate should be on its way.

"Tham Dien."

"You help me so much, I always feel that the price you want is not simply to listen to a performance."