Chapter 18 — The Night Before Exam Day

“I just want to live.” My mother's cry seemed to echo in my ears again. Her ankle, mixed with flesh and blood, appeared before her eyes again. I said every word. "You're alive." "But they're not." Suddenly there was silence inside. The police took the opportunity to break down the door. The moment the door was opened, the strong smell blew straight into my face. Ms. Hong stood next to the podium, clutching a red cloth in her hand, with half a spilled bottle of gasoline at her feet. The lighter was pinched between her two fingers. A female employee was tied to a chair, her mouth taped, her eyes filled with tears. The police's gun barrel and fire extinguisher were simultaneously pointed at her. But Ms. Hong brought the red cloth closer to the fire. "Back off." "I won't hand this over to you." I suddenly spoke up. "Burn it." Ms. Tan turned her head to look at me. Ms. Hong was also stunned. I raised my hand. The copper card in the police evidence bag reflected a dull light under the light. "The thread was burned, there is still a copper card." "Bronze cards cannot be burned." "People like you who have been hiding for eighteen years cannot rely on just a piece of cloth to survive." "Just one person opening their mouth, that's enough." I looked towards Tham Chu at the door. His face was ashen. "For example, him." Tham Chu felt like he was being pricked by needles. Ms. Hong's eyes immediately swept over. "Don't you dare." Tham Chu's lips trembled. I said. "Your father doesn't need you anymore." "Duong Tue has been captured." "Sister Hong also wants to destroy your voice." "Who else are you guarding?" Tham Chu glared at me. In his eyes, there was resentment, hatred, and finally fear that he couldn't hold back anymore. "I said." His voice was hoarse. "There is more than one entrance to the old warehouse in the basement." "The door to the basement of the general building is fake." "The real entrance is under the parents' waiting area outside the North door." Everyone's faces changed. North Gate. At the end of the first exam, the woman in the red dress was at the North gate. This afternoon, all candidates will enter the exam room, parents will still gather there. If there was an underground passage there, Tham Truong Bach could blend in with the crowd leaving and could also transport things. Ms. Hong suddenly grabbed Tham Chu. The police rushed up. The lighter in her hand fell down. The flame grazed the edge of the gasoline puddle and fell. White smoke instantly filled the classroom. During the chaos, Ms. Hong was pinned to the ground. She still bit down on the red cloth and refused to let go. When the police broke her arm, the cloth was torn. From inside fell a small copper wire so thin it was almost invisible. The copper wire is bent into seven extremely small digits. The test center leader only took a look, his face changed. "This is the number of the old warehouse seal." A scream came almost simultaneously on the intercom. "A shadow of a person was detected in the tunnel under the North gate." "Subject controlling a teenager." "Suspected to be a blood relative in Tham Chu's file." Tham Chu raised his head suddenly. And I heard the man's laughter on the other end of the line. "Manh Chi." "Before the afternoon exam starts, come see your mother home." 21 At 1:20 p.m., the parent area outside the North gate of the exam site was urgently evacuated. After the sunshade was removed, a patchy rusty iron cover was revealed on the ground. Under the iron lid is the abandoned exam question transportation passage of the old archive. No one expected that this walkway would actually connect with the transportation route of the old Ha Tay brick factory. No one expected that the escape route that Tham Truong Bach had hidden for the past eighteen years would be buried right at the foot of the university entrance exam scores. I'm behind the blockade tape. Ms. Tan pressed my shoulder. "I have thirty-five minutes left." I nodded. "I know." The policeman came down carrying a copper card and a copper wire. Tham

Zhou was also brought to the side to point out the underground passage structure. His whole body felt like it was being drained. I no longer looked confident when holding my exam notice this morning. Soon there was an echo from underground. One hour. Two hours. Then came the man's laughter. Tham Truong Bach's voice came from the loudspeaker. "Manh Chi didn't come down here, I didn't open the cabinet." The police coldly replied. "You're surrounded." He laughed. "In my hands I have Lam Tri Ha's remains." "And this brat's life." Tham Chu's legs softened, he almost knelt down. I looked at him. Not to mention gloating. Not saying sympathy. He is the knife. But the person holding the knife is even dirtier than him. My aunt's phone call came at this exact moment. She had just finished the procedure to treat the wound, her voice was weak but very steady. "Chi Chi, don't go down there." I said softly. "He used me to threaten you." She was silent for a few seconds. "I finally pushed you out of the mouth of the furnace, not to let you step back." Tears welled up in my eyes. Aunt continued. "Go take the exam." "Leave the rest to us." The phone was passed to my mother. She cried until her voice was hoarse. "Chi Chi, I'm outside the exam site." "I'll stay with you until the exam is over." Then there was my father. He was silent for a long time.