Chapter 9 — The Night Before Exam Day

The wind at the scene rustled the weeds, but I felt like there was actually someone standing behind me. My aunt was taken to the ambulance. Her ankle was rubbed by the iron chain to the point where flesh and blood mixed together. When the doctor used scissors to cut off the old fabric, she didn't even frown. Eighteen years. A person locked in a place like this for eighteen years, the pain has long become a part of breathing. I got in the car and followed. My father stood outside the car, wanting to get closer but didn't dare. My mother sat in another car, crying so hard she couldn't make a sound. She is not the mother who gave birth to me. But just now, when Duong Tue held up the lighter, the look of her desperately shaking her head at me overlapped with all the memories of her protecting me in the past. I don't know who to hate. I don't know who to ask first. When we arrived at the hospital, police were guarding outside the patient room. Ms. Tan was bandaged and determined not to be hospitalized. She said she had to stay with me until the exam ended tomorrow. I sat by my aunt's hospital bed. When she woke up, it was dark outside the window. The first question she asked was still whether my papers were still there. I showed her the file bag to see. She stared at the photo on the exam notice, the edges of her eyes turning a little red. "Like." "So much like your mother." I held her hand. "Who is your biological father?" My aunt's breathing suddenly became erratic. She looked at the police outside the door, then looked back at me. "This question, wait until you finish the exam to ask." "I can't wait." My voice was very light, but I couldn't help but tremble. "He's already targeting you." My aunt closed her eyes, tears sliding from the corners of her eyes down to her sideburns. "His name is Tham Truong Bach." "Tham Chu's father." My mind felt like it was struck by lightning. Tham Chu's father. No wonder Duong Tue hates me. No wonder Tham Chu said he knew. No wonder their whole family from a long time ago clung tightly to me, like a net that was slowly tightening. My stomach churned. My aunt continued with difficulty. "Eighteen years ago, he worked as a contractor at the Ha Tay brick factory." "Under him there was a group of workers from other places. After the factory stopped operating, those caves became places where they hid people." "Your mother was a volunteer there to search for missing female workers." "When your mother was locked inside, she already killed you." My fingertips were cold. "What about your father?" My aunt was silent for a long time. "Manh Thanh Hai is not a bad person to the core." "But he is a coward." "He took me away, but did not dare to return to save people." "He was afraid of revealing the fact that he had been to the brick factory." "I was also afraid that your current mother knew, you were not born from her." I bowed my head, tears falling on the back of my hand. "What about your mother." My aunt's voice hoarse as sandpaper. "After giving birth, she used the last bit of her strength to push the baby into the mouth of the furnace." "When I ran over, I only saw Manh Thanh Hai carrying the baby." "I chased after her, but was pulled back into the furnace by Duong Tue and Tham Truong Bach's people." "Then there was a fire in furnace No. 7." "They said your mother had burned down." She didn't say the word death. But I understand. The hospital room was eerily quiet. Ms. Tan stood by the window, her eyes red. The police asked my aunt, Tham Truong Bach, if she was still alive. My aunt opened her eyes. "I've heard his voice before." "Every year around college entrance exams, he comes back to the brick factory." "He said that when that child grows up, he can take something back for him." I raised my head. "What is it?" My aunt shook her head. "Before she died, your mother hid a key in your diaper." "Meng Thanh Hai must have taken it." This sentence Just as I finished, there was a knock on the hospital room door. My father stood outside the door, holding one in his hand

Upholstered in very old red fabric. He looked like he collapsed overnight. "Chi Chi." "I've been hiding this for eighteen years." The policeman took the red cloth and carefully opened it. Inside is not the key. It's a small copper card. The back of the copper card is engraved with a series of serial numbers. Ms. Tan lowered her head to look, her face suddenly changed. "This is the sealed card of the old exam archive." Before I could ask anything, the sound of rapid footsteps suddenly sounded at the end of the hallway. A young police officer ran over. "The test score system just reported an unusual error." "Someone used Manh Chi's identity and applied online for a special passage for tomorrow morning." 12 The four words "special passage" made the atmosphere in the hospital room instantly freeze. The police opened the computer and took out the application page. The applicant's name is Manh Chi. Citizen identification number does not miss a single letter. The reason for submitting the application is that your leg is injured and you need to enter the exam room early, avoiding the usual testing steps. The uploaded photo is also me. But the background of the photo was not the school's photo spot. But under the small yellow light in oven number 7. I stared at the screen, chills running down my spine. Someone is holding my photo, please give me a way without queuing. If this application is approved, tomorrow morning, the person who actually enters the test center may not be me.