Chapter 11 — The Ten Year Lie

He did not have to go to jail, but was publicly criticized, had part of his compensation improperly revoked, and was permanently banned from holding management jobs related to preschool education. Tham Tri Nghi actively testified and also took responsibility accordingly. Chau Que Lan cried as she came to Tue Tue's grave and kowtowed three times. I don't forgive her. But I accept your testimony ten years late. Luc Tram Chu's reputation as a "rescue hero" fell apart very quickly. He is not a civil servant, no one shields him, and no one invites him on stage to give rescue lectures. The rescue association revoked his honorary status. The commendation flags that once hung on the walls were taken down one by one and stacked at the door. He called me many times. I don't listen. Then he started writing letters. The first letter contained a picture of Tue Tue's family drawn when he was a child. In the painting, three people hold hands, the sun is very big, and the house is ramshackle. There was only one sentence in the letter. "Van Khe, you lost Tue Tue, you also lost me." I kept the picture and returned the letter. On the day of the divorce trial, Luc Tram Chu was so skinny that he was deformed. He was wearing the white shirt I bought before, the cuffs had been washed until old. The judge asked him if he agreed to a divorce. He looked at me, his eyes red as if he had been up for many nights. "Disagree." The judge reminded him that the relationship between both sides was truly broken, and he was at fault. His voice was hoarse. “I know.” “I just want to say one more thing to her.” The judge looked at me. I nodded. Luc Tram Chu stood up, his hands on the table, his knuckles white. "Van Khe, the thing I regret most in this life is not that you found out the truth." "But the day I cried until I fainted on the riverbank, you still dared to hug me and say I would walk out with you." "It's clear that I was that flood." Finally, he said something like human words. But there is no ripple in my heart. Ten years of tears have long since dried up. The verdict was given, we divorced. Most of the common property was awarded to me, Luc Tram Chu also had to pay compensation for mental damage and civil compensation after re-determining responsibility. He did not appeal. The day he signed, he pushed a bank card in front of me. "The password is Tue Tue's birthday." "Inside is the money I've saved over the years, and there's also a part that belongs to me after selling the house." "You can use it to repair Tue Tue's grave or whatever." I didn't accept it. "The compensation is done according to legal procedures." "Your money, I call it dirty." His eyes darkened and he slowly took the card back. After the civil verdict, Tuong Nguyet Cam did not escape. She admitted that that year she used the phrase "the child could be Luc Tram Chu's child" to stimulate him, and then threatened Chau Que Lan and Tham Tri Nghi to hide the truth. She couldn't compensate, so the foot massage shop downstairs was transferred. On the day we moved, she brought Dao Niem Tu to find me. Dao Niem Tu stood at the gate of the house, slimmer, no longer the obedient smile on her face. "Aunt To." The girl bowed her head. "My mother told me to apologize to you." I looked at the girl. "What about me?" The girl bit her lip, tears falling. "I used to hate Tue Tue." "Because everyone said, I owe her my survival." "I also hate you." "Every time you look at me, it's like that." looking at a thief." "Later I found out, I actually stole." "Stealed from her father." This apology was not pretty, but more sincere than any of the girl's previous expressions of understanding. I'm not saying it's okay. "Study well." "Stop taking other people's things as your life." Dao Niem Tu cried and nodded. Tuong Nguyet Cam stood next to him, his face was gray, no longer sour

exaggerated before. After they left, I returned to my old house. Tue Tue's room was finally opened. Haven't been inside for ten years, but Luc Tram Chu still cleans the inside very well. On the bed is a teddy bear, and on the desk is a book that hasn't been written yet. In the transparent box, the red rain boots lay quietly. It turns out it was never swept away by floodwaters. On the morning of the incident, Tue Tue criticized her rain boots for rubbing her feet. Before going out, she changed to small white shoes. Luc Tram Chu remembered wrongly because he had never seriously looked at what the girl was wearing that day. I sat on the ground and put the red hairpin in the box. Tears fell on the lid of the box. Not a breakdown. But I was finally able to cry for Tue Tue to hear. After that, I sold that house. I used part of the compensation money and money from selling the house to establish a small public fund to prevent drowning for children. No propaganda, no hanging up anyone's name. Just on Tue Tue's birthday each year, send lifesaving courses and rainy day safety supplies to nearby kindergartens. The first time I came to lecture, the teacher asked me what the name of the fund was. I looked at the children running back and forth on the yard, softly saying: "It's called Little New Moon." A few years later, I heard Mr. Chu say that Luc Tram Chu had left the area.