Chapter 18 — The One Who Counts Bridges

The receding water left a knee-high mud line on Bridge Seven's column. People used brooms to sweep from inside the house to the street, but the mud did not disappear, it just changed places. On the railing of the ramp, Khai's reflective shirt was caught on a screw, fluttering in the morning breeze.

“Don't take it off,” he said when Linh An reached out. “To mark where the water rises.”

“Your shirt is not a measuring device.”

“But see.”

Linh An left her shirt intact. She stood on a high step, recording the water level in four positions. Van gave boxed lunches to mud cleaners. Tung fixed the radio cable, Yen called from the radio repeatedly asking if anyone else had lost contact.

Last night, the live stream cut out three times. Each time it only takes a few minutes, enough for the listener to not receive directions. Yen played it back using the backup machine, but there were gaps in the recording on the radio server.

“Someone turned off the power, it's not a network error,” Diem said over the phone. “The log shows a peripheral device sending a command at 23:04.”

“Can you prove whose device it is?” Linh An asked.

"There is a physical address. There is no person's name."

"Stay."

“Saved in three places.”

Huy arrived at noon, not wearing an office shirt. The bandage on his hand was soaked in water, his face was haggard after a sleepless night. He brought box M07 with him and said he had given it to Inspector Thuan to seal.

“The construction team will temporarily stop the east area,” he said.

“Is there a decision?” Yen asked.

"Not yet."

“So what are you talking about?”

“My decision is within the scope of management.”

Linh An looked at him. “Where is Hung?”

“Don't answer the phone.”

“Have you told the Infrastructure Department about his message?”

“I handed over Quan Anh's phone to the inspector.”

“I asked if you had told me yet.”

Huy looked down at the mud. "I have not."

"Why?"

"Because if I say it before there is a record, they will call it an internal complaint. If I don't say it, I am protecting Hung."

“You have to choose.”

"I know."

Huy walked to the ramp and looked at the number four paint mark. He used his good hand to touch the paint, then withdrew it.

“I repainted this number once,” he said.

Linh An looked up. "When?"

"After the collapse, Mr. Hoa told me to mark the broken span so the crew wouldn't use it by mistake. Then they told me to delete it."

“You deleted?”

"I applied one layer. But it wasn't enough."

“Why didn't you say?”

“I don't think a lick of paint can save anyone.”

“It led us to the valve.”

“The new counter adds arrows.”

“You know who they are?”

Huy looked towards Mr. Bay's house. “I know people who have stood under the bridge.”

In the afternoon, Inspector Thuan made a record to seal M07 at the inspection room. He allowed Linh An, Yen and Khai to observe and not touch the equipment. The outside of the box has three overlapping layers of labels: Technical Services Company, Infrastructure Department, Cau Moc Joint Venture.

“One thing has too many owners,” Yen said.

“Things without owners are easily abandoned,” Thuan replied. “If an object has many owners, everyone thinks someone else keeps it.”

When opening the outer protection layer procedurally, they do not open the memory. Conveniently check the power cord. One strand was wired backwards, matching Quan Anh's words. He drew up a diagram, took samples of the joints and applied new seals.

“Has the data broadcast last night been backed up?” Linh An asked.

“There is a copy from the home station on duty.”

“Is that version independent?”

"Tung's machine recorded the signal sequence directly. There were witnesses."

Tung stood by the door, leaning the radio against his chest. You didn't say you were up all night.

Thuan added: “We need the original copy of the old map and family testimony family for historical comparison. If you have it, hand it over according to the minutes.”

Linh An looked at her mother. Van held the brown envelope and walked over.

“I handed over the statement and receipt,” she said. “But it clearly states that I am the keeper since the collapse.”

Agree to prepare minutes. Van read each line, changing the sentence "voluntarily provided" to "provided after being requested". Hung was not present to protest.

After delivering the papers, Van stood in front of the room door, empty handed. Linh An wanted to hug her mother but didn't know if she liked it or not. She just touched her arm.

“Mom did the right thing.”

“Don't talk like a judge.”

“You talk like a girl.”

Van let her touch her for a while longer, then withdrew her hand.

Yen went to the station and checked the gaps in the live broadcast. An outside camera clip showed a person wearing a gray jacket unplugging the generator at 23:04. His face was covered by a hat, but he was holding a yellow file.

“Hung?” Linh An asked.

“Not sure yet.”

“Don't use it.”

"I know."

Yen called Hung and left a message asking for a response. Three hours later, he emailed: “Broadcast interruption due to technical error, no intervention intended. The joint venture is not responsible for the station's equipment."

“He answered something else,” Yen said.

"Because I don't want to answer," Linh An replied.

In the afternoon, the Infrastructure Committee held an emergency meeting. Minh invited Linh An over, but she asked everyone to be present: Huy, Thuan, the crew representative, Yen and Mrs. Van. Minh agreed after Thuan said the scene report needed public dialogue.

In the meeting room, Minh read the flood report: the water level exceeded the scenario by 0.8 meters, the east flow was directed in the wrong direction due to a reverse valve, the construction site gate was opened against orders but helped evacuate 214 people, no deaths, three people were injured.

Hung didn't come. Another lawyer representing the joint venture said Huy opened the gate arbitrarily and that could be prosecuted.

“I opened it,” Huy confirmed.

“You cannot take responsibility for the organization,” the lawyer said.

“I won't change. I say what I do.”

Minh asked Linh An if she could present the map. She showed photos before and after the flood, showing the mud layer, water lines and valve locations.

“If the connector didn't exist, 214 people wouldn't have such a close gathering line,” she said. “But the road is damaged and cannot be called a long-term safe solution. I recommend suspending all dismantling, structural inspection and reopening data for residents.”

The lawyer asked her if she was licensed. Thuan answered for her: “She did not conclude the structure. She provided status data for the minutes.”

A resident representative asked why the new map was still blank. Minh said the data needs to be checked. Van asked how long.

“Seven days,” Minh replied.

“In those seven days, what if it rains again?”

Minh did not answer immediately. Huy looked at him, then said: "Open the temporary map for the residential group, clearly write down the unconfirmed part."

The lawyer objected. Minh turned to him. “We had a night to see that white paper cannot stop water.”

That was the first time Minh said a non-procedural sentence.

They agreed on three urgent tasks: keeping the tenth bridge section intact, independent inspection, and publicizing the temporary path with limited warnings. The Infrastructure Department must post the map within 24 hours. Huy commits not to dismantle until results are obtained. The lawyer wrote "no consent from the company", but Huy signed the minutes in his personal capacity.

After the meeting, Minh called Linh An into the hallway.

“I gave the old file to the inspector,” he said.

“All?”

“What me hold."

“What about pages 4, 5, 6?”

Minh took out a thin envelope from his briefcase and gave it to her. “I kept the copy.”

Linh An opened. Three torn pages are not blank copies. Page 4 is the connection diagram. Page 5 is a list of workers. Page 6 is Hoa's note: "Do not block the door until there is an alternative route."

“Why didn't you deliver from the beginning?”

“I thought if I kept it, I still had the right to fix it.”

“Have you used that right yet?”

"Not yet."

“So you just keep it.”

Minh nodded. “I held on too long.”

Linh An received the envelope without saying forgiveness. She knows that an apology cannot be returned for twelve years.

In the evening, Mr. Bay came to the ramp, carrying a black book. The water has receded, the paint is smeared, but many lines remain.

“Did you hand over the map?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“Do you keep any copies?”

"Are not. The map belongs to everyone who walks on it.”

Mr. Bay smiled and opened a new page. He wrote the number 10 on the bridge pillar, then left the path blank.

“You didn't write it down?”

“Waiting for inspection.”

“But it saved 214 people.”

“Saving people doesn't make it automatically safe.”

Linh An nodded. Mr. Bay still maintains the boundary between truth and desire.

Van brought out a small pot of porridge. She sat next to him, then asked: "Do you remember who stood at Bridge Number Seven that night?"

Mr. Bay looked at her. “Remember.”

“Am I there?”

"Have."

Van sat down next to him. “I signed.”

"I know."

“Is Mr. Hoa responsible?”

“He blamed everyone for not counting.”

Van gave him porridge. “I started counting.”

Mr. Bay received the bowl without saying anything.

That night, Huy sent Linh An a photo of an email from Hung, which contained a request for Quan Anh to "clean up the eastern route". He said he would deliver the original to the inspector tomorrow morning.

“Why did you change your mind?” Linh An asked.

“Because I opened the gate.”

"Are not. Why didn't you deliver it before?"

Huy answered after a while: “I think if I can keep the project, I can still correct the mistakes. Now I understand that there are some things that get heavier the more you keep them."

Linh An looked at the email. Huy did not become a good person overnight. But he chose to put his name on the record.

Outside the door, the sky is still cloudy. People began to rebuild the shop, using the boards that Van had stored under the bridge. Linh An picked up a pencil and drew another line on the map.

Not the official route.

Temporary roads have warnings, gate openers and responsible people.

“Use only as directed,” she wrote.

Then she wrote at the bottom: "Do not delete until there is another way."