Chapter 4 — The Ten Year Lie

Tuong Nguyet Cam was the first to squeeze in, her eyes red, her phone in her hand. "To Van Khe, what do you want to do?" "Nien Tu had an asthma attack as soon as she returned, crying and saying she didn't want to live anymore." "What are you forcing a child to do?" The neighbors' eyes all fell on me. Tuong Nguyet Cam thrust the phone in front of me. On the screen, Dao Niem Tu was lying on a hospital bed breathing oxygen, crying with tears in her eyes. "The girl said she shouldn't be saved." "Are you satisfied?" Luc Tram Chu's expression changed and immediately picked up his coat. "Which hospital?" I stood in place, looking at him so frantically that I hadn't even finished changing my shoes. The divorce agreement was still spread out on the tea table. At that moment, I suddenly asked: "Luc Tram Chu, the night Tue Tue happened, I fainted in the hospital, are you also this impatient?" His movements stopped. Tuong Nguyet Cam said shrilly: "Human lives are important, are you still jealous and competing for love?" Luc Tram Chu did not answer me. He stepped over the pile of broken glass on the ground and followed Tuong Nguyet Cam out. Before the door closed, he knocked over the photo frame on the closet. The photo of five-year-old Tue Tue was face down on the ground, the glass cracked like a spider's web. 5. In the hospital hallway, the smell of disinfectant filled people's throats. To Hoai Nghien advised me not to come. But Dao Niem Tu's words "don't want to live" were like an old key, twisting open my mouth that had been sealed ten years ago. That year I cried and demanded an investigation, everyone said, don't force Luc Tram Chu anymore, he won't survive. Now Dao Niem Tu just cried, they said, don't force the child anymore, she won't survive. Just like in this world, only mine and Tue Tue's are the hardest, no matter how much they are trampled on, they won't hurt. The hospital room door is not closed. Inside came Tuong Nguyet Cam's downcast cry. "Tram Chu, now she wants to destroy you." "Niem Tu is only fifteen years old, with such good results, she still has to go to school in the future." "You can't let To Van Khe cause trouble." Luc Tram Chu's voice was tired. "She won't harm Niem Tu." Tuong Nguyet Cam sneered. "Are you still defending her?" "Today she hit me first." How many people's faces will they dare to come to school and make a scene tomorrow?" "Niem Tu has been calling you dad for so many years. Are you really cruel to watch her being pointed at behind her back by her classmates?" After a moment of silence, Dao Niem Tu choked up. "Uncle Luc, I won't call you again from now on." "I know Aunt To hates me." "I just occasionally think, if the person who was saved that year was Tue Tue, wouldn't everyone be happy?" This sounds very understandable. But underneath that understanding, he hid a needle. Sure enough, Luc Tram Chu's voice was hoarse. "Don't talk nonsense." "It's a good thing you can survive." My nails dug deep into my palm. To Hoai Nghien reached out to push the door open, but I held it back. In the hospital room, Tuong Nguyet Cam said again: "Then you have to take good care of To Van Khe." "The story of that year has really been overturned, both you and I are unsightly." Luc Tram Chu said in a low voice. "Nguyet Cam." Tuong Nguyet Cam seemed to be scared by his voice and stopped speaking. But I heard it. Both you and I are unsightly. Turns out that message was not a scam. The nurse came over carrying a tray of food, saw us standing outside the door and asked, "Who are you looking for?" There was immediately no sound in the hospital room. Luc Tram Chu pushed the door and walked out. Seeing me, panic flashed in his eyes. "Van Khe, why did you come?" I looked behind him. Dao Niem Tu lay on the bed, her face pale, an IV needle in her hand. Tuong Nguyet Cam stood next to the bed, looking like she had encountered a great enemy. "To visit the child who was forced by me to be hospitalized." Luc Tram Chu frowned. "Don't say that." "So what should I say?" I walked away.

entered the hospital room. "Says she had an asthma attack because you didn't come to comfort her right away?" Dao Niem Tu's tears immediately fell. "Aunt To, I'm not there." Luc Tram Chu stood in front of the hospital bed. "She's still a child." This last sentence made me laugh. "My daughter who died at that time was also a child." The atmosphere in the hospital room froze. The patient's family member in the next bed raised his head to look over. Tuong Nguyet Cam lowered her voice. "Do you have to make a fuss so everyone will know?" "Are you afraid that everyone will know?" I stared at her. "Afraid of what?" Tuong Nguyet Cam's eyes dodged. "What do I have to be afraid of?" "Afraid that others will know about Niem Tu's tenth birthday, Luc Tram Chu went to the amusement park with her?" "Afraid that others will know that every year school starts, he pays for her materials?" "Afraid of people?" knowing that she called him dad for ten years?" Luc Tram Chu's face was unsightly. "Van Khe!" "Afraid someone else would ask a question." I didn't stop. "A life-saving benefactor, why is he closer than his biological father?" Dao Niem Tu cried even more intensely. "Don't say it anymore." "Aunt To, please don't say it anymore." The little girl pulled out the needle, blood immediately spewed out. Luc Tram Chu immediately turned his head and pressed her hand back. "Don't move!" Tuong Nguyet Cam screamed at me: