Chapter 14 — The Night Before Exam Day

Last night's bronze card was sealed in an evidence bag, carried by a police officer. The police officer took out the evidence bag. The series of numbers on the back of the copper card looked dull in the sunlight. Ms. Tan asked in a low voice: "What is the old archive?" When the test center's head heard this sentence, his face became even more unsightly. "This test site of ours used to be the old file transfer station of the City Testing Institute." "Twenty years ago, there was a special batch of test questions and denunciation documents that were temporarily sealed here." "After that, the agency moved headquarters, the old warehouse was sealed." "The bronze card was one of the tokens to open the sealed cabinet that year." I suddenly looked at him. "Recrimination documents?" The test site head said no. reply immediately. The elderly deputy head of the test site standing next to him changed his expression. "In the case of the missing female worker at the Ha Tay brick factory, someone once submitted an anonymous complaint." "But that document was later lost during transportation." "Because it was related to a specialized vehicle transporting exam questions, there was an internal investigation for a while." "In the end, nothing was resolved." My throat was choking. Before she died, my mother sewed a copper tag into her diaper, not as a souvenir. She gave me something that can open a certain cabinet. What Tham Truong Bach was looking for was not the bronze card itself. What he needs are things that can drag him to the grave inside. The police immediately contacted the City Examinations Institute and requested to block the old archive. But when I called, the other party said that the general building where the old warehouse was located had not been used for many years, and the key handover records were incomplete. Even worse, today the test site temporarily opened the walkway on the roof of the general building to separate corridors for proctors. The direction that Tham Truong Bach had just escaped to was that general building. My heart sank little by little. He didn't have to run away. He was going where he really wanted to go. At this time, the phone received a text message again. Not a duplicate number. It's Tham Chu's number. A short video appears. In the video, Tham Chu raised his face, the tape on his mouth had been torn off a corner. His voice trembled. "Manh Chi." "I was wrong." "I was really wrong." Off the camera, someone put a knife to his neck. Tham Chu cried so much that his voice was thick. "Give him the copper card." "The cabinet he wants to open is in the basement of the general building." "He said as long as he gets the things, he will let me go." The frame shook once. A scarred hand pokes into the lens. Tham Truong Bach's voice was very light. "Daughter, did you take the first subject well?" "But before the next subject, you have one more test." "Choose your biological mother, or choose the brother who grew up with you from childhood." The video cut off here. I stared at the word "daughter", my stomach churning. Ms. Tan snatched the phone away. "He's not my father." I nodded. "I know." But my voice was light and not like my own. Police quickly blocked the entrance to the general building. The test head arranged for me to go to the room to rest and prepare for the afternoon test. I kept looking at the old gray and white building in the distance. Behind the second floor window, there was a shadow slowly raising its hand. That hand pressed against the glass door. The scars between the fingers are clearly visible. He was an entire test site away, making an unlocking motion with me. 17The entrance to the old warehouse under the general building was behind an abandoned gym equipment storage room. The police didn't let me get close. I was placed in the test center's break room, outside the door there were two guards. Ms. Tan sat next to me, always holding my exam notice and citizen identification card. She was afraid that I would think nonsense

so pour me a glass of warm water. I don't drink. Now I don't dare touch anything that's not in my sight. Outside the window, on the school grounds, there are candidates reciting writing materials. Some people laughed, some complained that the Literature test was too difficult. But my world seems to be separated behind a thick layer of glass. Tham Chu's video continuously appeared in my mind. He cried and begged me to save him. But I also remember his unflinching eyes when he put the knife in my document bag. I'm not a saint. I cannot save every single person who wants to destroy me. But if Tham Truong Bach really took away the evidence from the old warehouse, her aunt's eighteen years of suffering, her mother's death, and those missing female workers would once again be buried in the ashes. Ms. Tan said softly: "Manh Chi, I have a Math exam in the afternoon." I looked down at the table. "I know." "Then the things that can be handed over to the police now, just hand them over." "You just need to hold on to one thing." "Sit in the exam room, finish the exam." I said yes. But outside the door suddenly came the sound of hurried footsteps. A policeman pushed the door open and walked in. "Outside the old warehouse, a secret door was discovered." "There were traces of recent activity inside." "But Tham Truong Bach was not there."