Chapter 7 — The Night Before Exam Day

"Your aunt, because she was looking for her, was also locked in there by Duong Tue." A strong wind blew into the open field. My father sat down on the ground. Duong Tue looked at my mother with venomous eyes. "Shut your mouth." My mother cried and looked at me. "She and your mother are twins." "That's why she looks like you." My ears rang. The face is exactly like mine. My statement from five years later. Turns out it's not the future. It's a face sealed in the veins. But the next second, my aunt suddenly raised her hand. She pointed behind me. I turned my head. Tham Chu did not know when he was standing behind the car. In his hand he held a real document bag. Ms. Tan collapsed at his feet, her temple bleeding. 09 My eyes went dark, I almost fell out of the car door. Tham Chu stood in the weeds, his white shirt covered in dust. The transparent file bag in his hand swayed in the wind. Inside is my exam admission notice and citizen identification card. Ms. Tan lay on the ground, her fingers still clutching the bag handle. A police officer immediately turned around and rushed over. But Tham Chu placed a small knife on the file bag. "Don't come here." Everyone stopped. He smiled. "Manh Chi, you see, the end is still in my hands." My voice trembled. "What have you done to Ms. Tan?" "Not dead yet." His tone was light as if he was talking about a trivial matter. "She's too entangled." I stared at him. The teenager who used to carry my bag the other day felt like a layer of skin had been peeled off. What's left is just strange coldness. Duong Tue smiled complacently at the mouth of the stove. "Chu Chu, good job." Tham Chu looked at her, but deep in his eyes there was not the least bit of intimacy. "Mom, you promised me." "As long as she doesn't get into the exam room, I will bury that matter in my heart." Duong Tue's face changed. I immediately grabbed this sentence. "What?" Tham Chu looked at me. "You really don't know anything." "I hate this look of yours the most." "It's as if everyone has to pave the way for you, as if you don't need to do anything to get first place in the exam." I clenched my fist. "So you want to ruin my university exam?" "It's not that I want to destroy you." His eyes bit by bit. "It's you who got in my way." "King Thi University only gave our school a first recommendation." "Once you've registered, the teachers won't look at me anymore." I was stunned. "Your achievements are simply not enough." Tham Chu's face instantly became unsightly. "If you weren't one grade above me every time, why wouldn't I be enough?" Ha Vu Vi walked out from behind a broken wall not far. In her hand she held a phone, her face as white as a piece of paper. "Tham Chu, what you said was just to scare him." "You didn't say you would touch the teacher." Tham Chu turned his head to look at her. "Shut your mouth." Ha Vu Vi took a step back. I suddenly understood. Photos, text messages, calls with altered tones may not be entirely done by Tham Chu himself. But he was involved from the beginning. Duong Tue borrowed his hand to ruin my exam. He borrowed Duong Tue's hand to eliminate my competitor. They each have their own hearts, but they use my life as a piece of paper that can be torn up at will. The police took advantage of Tham Chu's distraction and slowly approached Ms. Tan. Tham Chu quickly discovered it, the tip of the knife pressed hard on the file bag. The edge of the exam notice was slashed. "If it moves, I'll tear it to shreds." My heart sank. Ms. Tan moved with difficulty. She raised her head, her voice was very weak. "Manh Chi." "Don't worry about the papers." "You're okay, you can take the exam tomorrow." The smile on Tham Chu's face stiffened. I looked at him and suddenly burst into laughter. "You think if you hold it, I'm done?" Tham Chu's eyes darkened. "What are you pretending to be calm about?" "Paper."

The backup form has already been redone." I mumbled every word. "The district admission office has also recorded a special case." "You tear this sheet, you will only incur another crime." His hand trembled. Duong Tue screamed in a high pitched voice: "Don't listen to him trick you." But Tham Chu was already panicking. He looked at my father unwillingly. "Uncle Manh, please tell him." "You didn't report to the police that year either." "You have no right to tell the police to arrest you." My father seemed to be woken up by this sentence. He slowly stood up. "I admit the mistake I made in the past." "But today you hurt my daughter, I won't hide anymore." Tham Chu smiled coldly. "Your daughter?" "Who is her biological father, do you know?" My father's face blinked ashen. Duong Tue also turned her head to look at Tham Chu. "What nonsense are you talking about?" Tham Chu held up the phone. "Of course I know." "In my old phone there is a video from that year." "That night in furnace number 7, there was also a man." My aunt in the furnace suddenly struggled violently. The iron chain collided with the earth wall, scattering dust. My mother cried: "Don't say it." Tham Chu laughed even more cruelly. "Manh Chi, don't you want to know the truth?" "Your biological father is not Manh Thanh Hai."