Chapter 18 — The Summer Contract of Western Beauty and Beasts

Bach Son walked towards the gate, holding a flashlight and a wooden stick that was still standing in the corner of the porch in case he needed to chase away wild animals. The Squid growled incessantly, its four legs clutching the ground, its hair standing up along its spine - a violent reaction that was different from any other time when only wild animals came into the garden. The flashlight swept across the figure standing quietly outside the fence, revealing the face of a middle-aged man, neatly dressed but somewhat out of place in the dark countryside - Trinh Khac Sang. About twenty meters away, a black car parked on the side of the road, the headlights were off but the engine was still running, and in the darkness next to the car, Bach Son recognized two more figures standing with their arms crossed, silently watching. Not alone. He came here with plans, preparations, and people waiting to help if needed.

"Sorry for coming unexpectedly at this hour," Trinh Khac Sang spoke, the corner of his lips curled up in a familiar cold smile. "I'm looking for Ms. Duong Nha Khanh. I heard she's staying here."

Nha Khanh, standing behind Bach Son, heard that voice and immediately froze, her whole body trembling. She immediately recognized that it was the cold voice she had heard on her father's phone years ago, the voice that had haunted her for nearly a year on the run.

"Who are you? Why are you looking for my wife?" Bach Son asked, his voice was firm, his body unconsciously shielded Nha Khanh more in front.

"Your wife?" Trinh Khac Sang chuckled, his eyes glanced at Nha Khanh with undisguised mockery. "She still owes me a large amount of money, along with joint responsibility in the transfer of shares in the family company. I came here to remind, not to cause trouble. But if the debt is not resolved in the near future, I'm afraid, I will have to use tougher measures."

"It's a scam, not a legal debt," Nha Khanh walked out from behind Bach Son, trying to suppress her trembling, her voice sounded more resolute than she expected. "I was tricked into signing the papers, you and Lam Viet Cuong both know that."

"The documents are signed and notarized properly. The law doesn't care if you were deceived or not, it only cares about the validity of the document," Trinh Khac Sang replied, his voice still remaining terrifyingly calm. Then he stopped for a moment, his eyes scanned the house behind him, through the dark window where Tue An was sleeping. His voice suddenly lowered, slowly, as if he was carefully considering each word before releasing a more dangerous blow. "I've heard rumors that your family is still in the middle of a child custody case, right? I wonder what the court will think, if they know that this house you are trying to prove is a 'full home', harbors a woman who is heavily in debt, and is being searched for everywhere. If that story reaches the ears of the lawyer on the other side, it probably won't benefit you at all."

That sentence was like a dagger straight into the most dangerous place. Bach Son clenched the stick in his hand until his knuckles were white, his jaw clenched, a cold anger rose up the back of his neck. He didn't just threaten to collect debt. He is planning to turn your daughter's lawsuit into a bargaining chip.

"You dare threaten me with An." Bach Son's voice lowered, each word was fragmentary, heavy as stone. "You're the wrong person."

"I didn't scare anyone," Trinh Khac Sang shrugged, his expression still calm. "I'm just stating a truth, so you can weigh the pros and cons for yourself."

"The only truth here," Bach Son took another step, his eyes sharper than ever before, "is that you are standing in front of someone else's house in the middle of the night, carrying someone, threatening my wife and my daughter. If you use any threatening or threatening behavior towards my family, I will report it to the police immediately, and I am sure that what you just said is enough to constitute threatening behavior."

The Squid, as if sensing the tension was reaching its peak, barked more intensely, rushing closer to the fence, causing one of the two figures next to the black car to reflexively take half a step back. Almost at the same time, the oil lamp from the kitchen turned on, and the footsteps of Mr. Sau Lanh rushed out, holding another flashlight and the machete he used to cut grass, erecting it straight behind Bach Son like a second living fence. A little further, along the dirt road leading into the village, a few other flashlights also began to flicker - the neighbor's dog barked in response to Muc's voice, and a man's voice called out from the house next door. "There's something going on at Son's house, do you need to come over?"

Trinh Khac Sang frowned slightly, revealing a hint of guilt for the first time. He did not expect that in the middle of a remote hill where there seemed to be only a single house, it could quickly attract so many vigilant eyes in just a few minutes. He glanced at Bach Son, at Uncle Sau, at the lights that were getting closer in the distance, then at Nha Khanh who was standing up straight even though her whole body was still trembling, with no intention of backing down or begging like he once assumed of a weak lady.

"Okay, today I just came to give a polite reminder." He smiled faintly, but this time the smile was much more awkward than when he first arrived. "But you should remember, I'm not a patient person. She still owes me, and that debt won't suddenly disappear just because she ran away here to hide in the shadow of a hasty marriage."

Having finished speaking, he turned around and walked out to the car. Before leaving, he looked back, his eyes lingering on Nha Khanh for a long time, full of threatening meaning. "You should remember, no matter where you hide, I will find you. Next time, I won't come alone as politely as I did today."

The car revved up and left, the two silhouettes quietly climbed in, leaving the quiet night to cover the Mist Hill farm again, but the atmosphere was now completely different, heavy and full of insecurity. Nha Khanh stood motionless, her legs buckled in panic, and was promptly caught by Bach Son.

"It's okay, I'm here," he said, his voice warm but firm, holding her in his arms, clearly feeling her body tremble.

"I'm sorry," Nha Khanh choked, tears falling uncontrollably. "I have brought danger to your house, to my gate. He also intends to use An as an excuse in court. I shouldn't stay here, I'm afraid he will harm you and An."

"Don't say that." Bach Son tightened his arms, his voice was determined without any hesitation. "This is not your fault. The ones to blame are those who defrauded you, blatantly appropriated your property, and now intend to drag my daughter into the bargain. The more I listen to him, the more clearly I see, this is no longer your personal matter. This is my entire family's matter, and I will not let him touch a single hair of anyone in this house."

Inside the house, Uncle Sau Lanh stood quietly observing from the beginning, his face full of worry but unable to hide his determination. He walked out, placing his hands on both of their shoulders. "Do you hear me clearly? He still dares to scare An. From now on, I will raise a few more German Shepherd dogs to guard the gate, and I will tell the brothers to protect the area to alert immediately if they see strangers appearing. I am not alone, this whole village will not leave the bad guys alone, you see, just hearing the sound of Muc barking makes the whole village shake."

That night, after everything calmed down, Bach Son did not take a step away from Nha Khanh's side, sitting with her all night on the porch until she gradually calmed down. He understands that the threat from Trinh Khac Sang is no longer a distant worry, but has become an ever-present danger, right at the door, blatant enough to even target the child he loves the most, and he knows that he will have to do everything he can to fully protect this small family, at any cost.

The next morning, Bach Son woke up earlier than usual, immediately called lawyer Vuong Dinh Khai, and recounted the entire incident last night, not missing the detail that Trinh Khac Sang mentioned the child custody lawsuit as a disguised threat. After listening, lawyer Khai analyzed in a low voice.

"The fact that he brought up the child custody case to threaten him was actually a serious legal mistake on his part," he said, his voice more serious than usual. "If you have witnesses to confirm that threat - and I heard that Uncle Sau was present from the beginning - this will be important evidence to denounce the act of property appropriation, mental intimidation, and can even be presented to the court as a circumstance showing that it is the victim who is under unfair pressure, not that he is not qualified to raise the children. I will prepare a report to the local police today, and contact a colleague who specializes in financial fraud cases. in Saigon to coordinate a deeper investigation of this entire network."

"Uncle Sau recorded the last part of the conversation with his cell phone, when he threatened again before getting in the car," Bach Son said, recalling Uncle Sau's quick reflexes last night. "I'll send it to the lawyer right away."

That afternoon, the whole family gathered in a serious atmosphere but no longer panicked like the night before. Nha Khanh, although still a little shaken, regained the necessary calmness and sat with everyone to discuss a solution.

"I think it's time for me to return to Saigon, face Viet Cuong directly and find a way to collect enough evidence to turn the case over," she said, her voice determined even though her eyes still showed a little fear. "The longer he hides, the more he gains momentum, even daring to use An as an excuse. I can't let that continue another day, not only for me, but for you and An."

Bach Son frowned and objected immediately. "No, it's too dangerous. If you face them alone, I don't feel secure at all."

"I won't go alone," Nha Khanh reassured, holding his hand. "I will ask Bich Tram for support, and lawyer Khai also has connections there. But you also have to worry about An, the upcoming child custody lawsuit, you can't neglect everything to follow me. This time, let me take care of my part."

The debate lasted all afternoon that day, finally reaching a temporary agreement - Nha Khanh would prepare carefully, collect more evidence with lawyers and friends before considering a direct confrontation, while Bach Son would strengthen security measures at the farm, not leaving any loopholes that could put their small family in danger again. Although no one knows for sure how many hardships the road ahead will have, for the first time, both clearly feel that they are facing the storm together, no one has to bear it alone anymore.

Late that afternoon, when Nha Khanh went to the garden to pick vegetables to prepare dinner, Tue An quietly followed, holding a familiar pebble in her hand. She sat down next to Nha Khanh, didn't say anything, just quietly placed the stone in her palm, a small gesture but enough to make Nha Khanh shed tears. That is Tue An's own way to share, to comfort, even though she cannot express herself in words like other children, and perhaps, even though she does not fully understand what happened last night, she still feels that the woman she loves needs something to hold on to.

"Thank you, An," Nha Khanh hugged the baby gently, her throat was choked, it took a beat to continue speaking. "With An and Dad here, I'm not afraid of anything."

Standing from afar observing that scene, Bach Son silently leaned his shoulders against the porch pillar, his hands in his pockets as if to hide the slight tightening in his chest. He knows that even though the dangers ahead are still uncertain, even though the bad guys have dared to attack his family's weakest point, as long as this small family stays together and has simple warm moments like this, they will have enough strength to overcome whatever challenges lie ahead.

Late that night, after Tue An fell asleep, Bach Son sat alone in the office, flipping through all the files related to the child custody case and the notes he had just updated about Trinh Khac Sang's threat. He wrote down a list of things to do in the next week — reinforce the fence, install sensor lights around the gate area, contact the commune police to officially report the incident, and most importantly, prepare all the arguments so that if the opposing lawyer heard the rumors tonight, he would have enough evidence that it was his family that was being targeted by the bad guys, not the cause of the unrest. Looking at the long list before him, he did not feel discouraged, but on the contrary, an iron determination was silently growing inside him - determined to fully protect the small home that he and the people he loved had built together, no matter how much effort he had to sacrifice or how many dangers ahead.