Chapter 20 — The Sweet Taste After Criticism

Three days after Kien's family officially annulled the engagement, when everything seemed to be going smoothly, an unexpected event threatened to ruin all the efforts that Mai and the whole neighborhood had worked hard to build.

On Monday morning, when Banh Nang shop had just opened for half an hour, a food hygiene and safety inspection team suddenly appeared, carrying official documents requesting an urgent inspection of the shop's entire production process.

“We received a complaint,” the inspection team leader said, his voice serious, “about the store using ingredients of unknown origin, showing signs of serious food safety violations.”

Mai stood dumbfounded, unable to believe what she was hearing. “We always fully comply with regulations, there have never been any problems with the origin of raw materials.”

“We are just following the correct procedure based on the complaint,” the team leader replied, his voice still remaining objective, “we hope you will cooperate so that the inspection can take place quickly.”

The inspection team began searching the kitchen, checking every bag of ingredients and every invoice, causing the atmosphere in the store to become extremely tense. Linh, standing next to Mai, couldn't hide her worry and whispered. "This is definitely Dat Long's game, it can't be a coincidence."

Mai nodded, feeling both angry and panicked, but still trying to stay calm and immediately called Kien to tell her the news. He was at the shop in just fifteen minutes, along with lawyer Khoa whom they had cooperated with all this time.

"Just stay calm and cooperate fully," lawyer Khoa reassured, after clearly understanding the situation, "if the shop really complies with the regulations as you said, the inspection team will not find any violations. This is clearly a targeted attack to cause reputational and financial damage to the shop in the short term."

The inspection process lasted nearly three hours, witnessed by many curious customers standing outside the door, some even recorded videos and posted them on social networks with negative speculative comments, unintentionally creating unnecessary public pressure on Banh Nang shop.

Finally, after thoroughly checking all invoices and documents of raw material origin, the inspection team did not find any serious violations, only a few small errors about improper warehouse arrangement, absolutely not enough to suspend business operations.

“Thank you for your cooperation,” the delegation leader said before leaving, “we will record the results of this inspection in the official report.”

When the inspection team left, Mai breathed a sigh of relief but still could not hide her anger at this foul action. “It's clear that this is Dat Long's retaliation for failing to scare the whole neighborhood,” she said, her voice shaking with indignation.

“We need specific evidence to prove that,” lawyer Khoa said, “otherwise, it will be difficult to sue for slander and false accusations.”

Kien, while everyone was discussing, suddenly remembered something. "I remember the inspection team mentioned that the complaint was sent from a specific email address. If we can trace the IP address or registration information of that email, we may find clues linking directly to Dat Long or his company."

“Let me contact the inspection team to ask for that information,” said lawyer Khoa, “as the defendant We have the right to request to know the origin of the complaint to protect our legal rights."

That evening, when everything had calmed down, Mai sat absent-mindedly looking back at the bakery that had just gone through a turbulent day, her heart rising with a stronger determination than ever. Dat Long has shown that he is willing to use all tricks, including the most despicable tricks, to achieve his goals, but that also means that he is increasingly revealing his true nature, creating a solid basis for the legal battle that the whole neighborhood is pursuing together.

“This won't stop here,” Mai said, holding Kien's hand tightly, her eyes filled with determination, “but I won't back down, no matter how many evil tricks he pulls.”

Two days later, lawyer Khoa contacted to report the news, his voice full of excitement. “I have obtained information about the email address where the complaint was sent. Through verification, the IP address registered to that email matches the internal network of an office of the company where Dat Long is working."

Mai heard the news and felt a great spark of hope. “So does that mean we have enough evidence to prove he is behind this false accusation?”

“It is not completely certain,” lawyer Khoa cautioned, “the IP address matches the company office, but it cannot be confirmed exactly that it was done directly by Dat Long, it could be another employee acting under instructions. However, this is still important evidence for us to file a complaint with the authorities, requesting an investigation to clarify the motive behind this accusation."

Kien, sitting next to him, listened to the entire conversation, his face hardened with determination. “I think it's time to combine this evidence with the information journalists have previously collected, speeding up the publication of the investigation. If everything is disclosed to the public, public pressure will force Dat Long's company to take responsibility, instead of continuing to silently cause difficulties for us."

“I agree,” lawyer Khoa nodded, “I will prepare full legal documents, combined with articles to create maximum pressure. This could be the decisive turning point for the whole case.”

Mai looked at the two men fiercely discussing strategy, her heart filled with confidence. After many days of enduring suppression tactics, they finally found a clear direction to counterattack, not only to protect the Sun Cake shop, but also to bring to light the entire truth behind the calculated land acquisition plot of a corporation willing to trample on the rights of small people.

That afternoon, Mai called to inform other households in the alley about the new developments. The initial atmosphere of anxiety gradually turned to excitement when she heard that there was specific evidence linking Dat Long to the false accusation.

“So we can finally expose him,” the noodle seller said, her voice filled with gloating, “for so long I thought we couldn't do anything against such a big company.”

“We still have to wait for the results of the official investigation,” Mai reminded, although in her heart she could not hide her optimism, “but this is an important step forward, showing that justice is not absolutely on the side of those with money and power.”

Late at night, every night Things were temporarily settled, Mai and Kien sat together at the shop, looking back at the turbulent journey that had passed since the first review appeared. “Looking back,” Mai said, leaning her head on Kien's shoulder, “I didn't expect that in just a few months, my life would change so much — from love, to business, to even a huge legal battle like this.”

"Me too," Kien replied, gently squeezing her shoulder, "but I don't regret it for a moment. All the troubles we went through are finally leading to a worthy result, both in terms of love and justice for this whole community."

They sat together in silence, enjoying the rare moment of peace in the midst of a storm that had not yet completely subsided, but both of them were filled with hope for a good ending that was gradually unfolding ahead.

Before leaving, Kien received a text message from Tung, informing him that the journalist was ready to publish a complete investigation article next week, combining all the evidence he had collected - from testimonies from households, company cross-ownership diagrams, to the latest evidence of a false accusation related to internal IP addresses.

“Everything is gradually closing,” Kien said, showing Mai his phone to see the message, “just waiting for the article to be officially published.”

Mai read the message and clearly felt a sense of relief spreading throughout her body, even though she knew that this was not the final victory, but just an important turning point that opened the opportunity for the entire truth to be exposed to public opinion, forcing those behind this calculated land collection plot to take responsibility for their actions, and returning the inherent peace to the small alley that she and many generations of her family had been attached to all their lives, a common home that she now had. more determined than ever to preserve it.