Chapter 16 — The Sweet Taste After Criticism

After reconciling, Kien and Mai put all their energy into finding ways to deal with Dat Long's plan to collect the land. Kien, with a wide network of contacts from his work as a reviewer, was able to contact a journalist specializing in real estate who had written an article about the suspected lack of transparency of the company Dat Long was working for.

“He said,” Kien reported to Mai during an evening meeting with Linh and Tung, “this company has been involved in several land disputes in other areas, with similar tactics — sending people to approach each individual household, offering attractive prices to divide solidarity, avoiding people uniting to protest at the same time.”

“So what can I use this information for?” Mai asked, recording every detail in her notebook.

"First of all," Kien said, "we need to publicize this information to all households in the alley, so that they can clearly understand the nature of those attractive offers, and avoid being swayed and agreeing to sell quickly."

The next day, Kien and Mai went from house to house in the alley together, sharing the information they had collected, encouraging everyone to unite and not rush to make decisions in the face of attractive but calculating offers. Most households expressed concern but also appreciated this timely warning and agreed to consider more carefully before making any decisions.

However, when the news that the whole neighborhood was on alert reached Dat Long, he did not flinch, and instead decided to directly meet Mai again, this time with a much less polite attitude than the first time.

“Mai,” Dat Long appeared at the shop one afternoon, no longer with his usual confident smile, instead with a cold look, “I heard that you are going around the neighborhood badmouthing my company.”

“I'm just sharing the truth,” Mai replied, her voice unflinching, “about what your company used to do in other areas.”

"Truth or false rumor," Dat Long smirked, his eyes glanced at Kien standing nearby with undisguised contempt, "it must have been instigated by this reviewer guy. Are you two planning to join forces to fight a large corporation? How funny."

"We don't need to fight your corporation," Kien spoke up, his voice calm but powerful, "we are just protecting the legitimate rights of the people who have lived here for many generations. If your company really has a decent and transparent project, why does it have to use divisive tactics and put pressure on each household individually?"

Dat Long was silent for a second, his eyes slightly confused by Kien's sharp argument, but quickly regained his inherent confidence. "That's business, use whatever strategy is effective. Do you think you can stop a project that has been approved from top to bottom?"

“Has the project been officially approved,” Kien asked directly, his eyes not leaving Dat Long, “or is it still in the survey stage, collecting land using not very transparent measures to create an advantage before the official announcement?”

That question made Dat Long pause clearly, a short silence but enough for Mai to realize that perhaps Kien had touched on the weak point in his plan.

“You don't have any evidence,” Dat Long said, his voice trying to remain calm but clearly showed his confusion, "Don't make random inferences and ruin my company's reputation."

"We don't need to speculate," Kien replied, pulling out a pre-printed document from his pocket, "these are articles and previous disputes related to your company. They are all public and anyone can read them. We are just helping people here have full information before making decisions, which is their legitimate right."

Dat Long took the document and flipped through a few pages. His face gradually turned pale when he realized the level of detail of the information that had been revealed. "Okay," he said, his voice hard, trying to save face, "but don't think this will stop here. My company has enough resources to pursue this project to the end, no matter how much you guys try to hinder it."

Having finished speaking, he threw the documents back on the table, turned and walked out of the store with a vicious look on his face, leaving Mai and Kien watching, both understanding that this confrontation was far from over.

“What do you think he will do next?” Mai asked, her voice still a little worried even though she felt proud of Kien's sharpness in the confrontation just now.

"I'm not sure," Kien replied, his face thoughtful, "but based on his reaction, I think we made that company's plan really difficult. Such a person, when cornered, will often have more reckless reactions to save the situation."

That warning made Mai shiver, but she also felt a strong determination growing inside her heart - no matter what Dat Long planned next, she and Kien, along with the gradually forming solidarity of the entire alley, would not easily submit to any pressure.

That evening, news of the confrontation between Kien and Dat Long spread quickly throughout the alley. Many households proactively stopped by Banh Nang to ask about the situation. Some even brought copies of their loan documents or rental contracts to ask Kien to help see if there was anything unusual.

“Thank you and Mr. Kien for standing up for the whole neighborhood,” car repairman Tu, one of the oldest neighbors, said when stopping by the shop, his voice filled with emotion. "I also received an offer to buy a house last week. I thought of silently agreeing, but now that I've heard you tell it, I realize I almost fell into a trap."

"Don't rush to sign any documents," Mai advised. "If anyone comes to ask to buy or rent, just let us know in advance and we'll consider carefully together."

Uncle Tu nodded, held Mai's hand tightly as a sincere thank you, then turned to Kien. "Dude, I heard that you and Mai are getting to know each other? You're so kind, I support you two so much."

Kien was a bit surprised by Uncle Tu's straightforwardness, but could not hide his warm smile. “Thank you, I will try my best to be worthy of everyone's trust.”

Late in the evening, when the shop was empty, Mai and Kien sat down to summarize the information collected during the day. They both clearly felt a positive change spreading throughout the alley - from the initial confusion and shyness, people now began to trust and unite more, a collective strength that Dat Long, no matter how much money and power he had, could not easily break.

“It feels like,” Mai said, leaning putting his head on Kien's shoulder, "We're not just fighting for your bakery, but for the whole community."

“That's right,” Kien replied, gently squeezing her hand, “and I believe, with this solidarity, no force can easily defeat us.”

The next day, Tung stopped by with an excited expression, bringing new news. “I just talked to the journalist the other day, he said he is willing to write a more in-depth investigation article about Dat Long company's land collection activities, if we provide more specific evidence from this very alley.”

“So what do I need to do?” Mai asked, her eyes lighting up at the new opportunity.

"It is necessary to collect testimonies from households who have been approached and offered to buy and sell at unusual prices," Tung explained. "The more specific cases there are, the more weight the article will have, enough to force the company to make its entire plan transparent, and possibly even cause the authorities to inspect."

Kien nodded in agreement. “I will prepare a short, easy-to-understand questionnaire, so everyone can share information systematically, avoiding missing any important details.”

The group immediately got to work, spending the entire afternoon drafting the questionnaire, then going door to door in the alley together to collect information. Although the working atmosphere is tense, it is full of team spirit, each person has their own job, everyone is aware of the importance of the task being performed.

By the end of the day, they had collected testimonies from more than ten different households, each story contributing a piece to the overall picture of the Dat Long company's ambitious land collection campaign. Mai looked at the stack of papers that grew thicker day by day, filled with hope that, with this concrete evidence, they could completely turn the situation around before it became too late, before Dat Long could come up with another trick to corner the entire alley.