Chapter 9 — The Snow Melts, The Sun Shines On The Green Mountains

10 The crowd was silent for two seconds. Phuong Man Le also immediately realized she had said something wrong and bit her lip. I pulled out the old invoice and placed it at the bottom of my document bag. That was the internal receipt of the Trac family's party at the hotel that year. The notes section reads:

“The eldest son's 1st birthday party and the opening of a new store.”

“Safely discharged from the hospital” is just an explanation they made up later.

This eldest son is a different person. The Trac family once had a son. One year before I was abandoned, Phuong Man Le gave birth to a baby boy. The baby had poor health and died shortly after his first birthday. Then she became pregnant again, and the test result was a girl. On the piece of paper it was written that I was born prematurely, but old hospital records clearly stated that at birth I had no serious health problems. The phrase "can't feed you" from beginning to end is just an excuse. The adults of the Trac family are superstitious and believe that a daughter will "engrave her brother's destiny". The couple was worried that if I registered my household registration, it would affect their ability to continue having a son. Some superstitions barely covered their selfishness, so they actually threw a newborn baby out in the snow. A year later, Trac Tu Hang was born. The strange man who came to the village eleven years ago only came to replace the elders of the Trac family and asked one thing: Can he take me back to "add blessings"? They stood outside the village and saw me wearing a washed-to-faded uniform. They criticized me for being rustic. They were afraid that if they accepted me, others would talk about me, so they left. These details come from Trac Kien Hung's cousin. Half a month before the signing, she saw the featured video online, proactively contacted me, and gave me old invoices and messages from that year. She doesn't want to continue to hide the bad things of the Trac family. After getting the clue, my lawyer followed it and found the party records. In the message, Phuong Man Le wrote clearly:

"Put your daughter away for a bit. Kien Hung is soft-hearted, don't let him know the location."

Trac Kien Hung is not innocent either. His reply message was only three words.

“She handles it.”

I don't bring up the lost child to attack them. The child is not at fault. I only give those messages to the media.

“This is the truth about the bloodline that you two want.”

Trac Kien Hung cannot continue to say the words "misunderstanding". District staff called security and invited them out of the hall. The supplier status that Trac Thi is competing with was also temporarily suspended for approval because of concealing related relationships and having problems with the documents. This matter has nothing to do with me. Because they were eager to swallow the cooperative, they used a fake warehouse contract in their capacity profile. The capital project appraisal team has conducted an investigation. The drama at the signing only accelerated the investigation one step further. Trac Thi then issued a statement, saying that during the process of discussing family matters, there was a mistake. On the same day, I sent a lawyer's letter.

“Child abandonment, illegal sampling, and false propaganda cannot be called distortions in communication.”

Trac Kien Hung wanted to mediate privately, the price was raised again and again. My answer is just one line:

“Please pay all necessary taxes and fines for breach of contract to those who are truly entitled to receive them.”

Phuong Man Le changed her texting phone number again for me. She said that she had given birth to me and had suffered herself. After reading the message, I replied to her exactly once.

"Giving birth cannot erase the abandonment. Your suffering is not my responsibility. You also have no right to take back my life."

After sending, I blocked the phone number. Someone asked me if I'm really not curious how my biological parents have lived over the years? Incurious. When I was young, I used to think of many reasons for them. Heavy snow blocked the way, reluctantly, perhaps they had been looking for me for many years. Children always like to complete lies for adults. The more you make it seem real, the less uncomfortable you feel inside. The night the truth was revealed, I slept strangely peacefully. The next morning, Tuong Tu Lan stood in the kitchen chopping meat. Seeing me blocking the way, he used his elbow to push me aside. Luong Quoc Dong squatted in front of the door to fix the broken socket, telling me not to step on the wires. Standing in that noisy kitchen, I suddenly felt like I had nothing more to ask. The roof that I should have is still here. The signing session continued. I represent Thanh Thach Ao cooperative to sign the supply agreement. ## Chapter 8 It was a long-term purchasing agreement with a total value of more than ten million dong. When I put down my pen, the brass bell on my pocket rang softly. Luong Thu Nghia sat under the stage and gave me a thumbs up. But after the meeting ended, he did not return to the village with everyone. When I found him in front of the bathroom door, he was holding on to the wall and breathing heavily.

“Eldest grandfather?”

He waved his hand.

“It's just an old illness.”

I didn't listen to him and immediately called an ambulance. Test results showed that he had myocardial ischemia and needed hospitalization. He lay on the hospital bed and scolded me for making such a big deal out of something small. I slapped the hospital bill on the head of the bed.

“If you scold me again, I will broadcast it live for the whole village to see.”

He immediately shut his mouth. This time it was my turn to be there to look after him. ### 11 On the seventh day Luong Thu Nghia was hospitalized, Thanh Thach Ao's road was opened to traffic. At that time, it had not yet been officially put into use, only a section had been opened for testing. No one in the village told him.