Chapter 12 — Thirty Million And One Man's Worth

She could not conclude. But at least... she no longer completely believed her daughter's words.

“Okay then.”

She stood up.

"If you don't have proof, don't talk anymore. Hieu Hieu, quickly find a job. Minh Vien can't carry this burden alone for long."

“I know, Mom.”

She pulled Chu Minh Le away. The door closes. Before leaving, Chu Minh Le turned his head to look at me. That look said clearly— She's not done yet. In the evening, Chu Minh Vien returned home. I recounted the entire day's story. After listening, he was silent for a long time.

“She told her mother.”

“Do you believe it?”

“Half believed, half doubted.”

“How do you handle it?”

“Denial.”

“You still deny it?”

He looked at me. I looked back.

“Do you want me to admit it in front of your mother and sister? Are you sure you can bear the consequences?”

He doesn't speak anymore.

"If you admit it, my mother will think it's the whole family's money, everyone has a share, my sister will immediately push the debt of 1,200,000 to me, and Thai Quoc Cuong will bring a whole bunch of strangers to bother me, from then on my life won't have a peaceful day."

He sat down and let out a long breath, as if he had just seen the whole scenario for himself.

“You're right.”

"So now there's only one way - deny it, buy time, wait until Thai Quoc Cuong's debt is resolved, wait for your sister to cool down, then we can move on."

“But how can we handle his debt? He is already a person who has lost credibility.”

"The court will confiscate his assets. His shop on the walking street can still sell for some money. If he can't anymore, he will file for personal bankruptcy."

“What about your sister?”

"My sister is my wife, but the debt is divided into joint debt and separate debt. This debt is Thai Quoc Cuong's business debt. If my sister does not sign the loan contract, she legally does not need to pay it."

He looked at me, his eyes unable to hide his surprise.

“When did you learn these rules?”

“Two months now.”

“How many things have you done in the past two months?”

“Open a store, buy a house, make financial investments, hire a lawyer.”

He shook his head and laughed.

“You married someone who hid his identity.”

“Nothing to hide, just a lottery winner.”

“Normal people cannot complete that much work in two months.”

"Just being forced. If you don't prepare for my family's situation, thirty million won't be enough for my sister to spend."

He was silent for a moment, then called me.

“Understanding.”

“Are you tired?”

“…a little.”

He got up and went to the kitchen, five minutes later brought out a bowl of banh troi. The frozen kind from the supermarket, filled with peanuts, my favorite. I received the bowl and looked at him.

“Minh Vien.”

“Do you feel useless?”

He didn't answer.

“You are not useless, you are my biggest support when I have nothing.”

“Your monthly salary is 12,000.”

"But you're the only one who said 'I raised you' when I was broke, the value of that sentence is more than thirty million."

He smiled, the smile was a bit sour but very genuine.

“This bowl of floating cake is half price.”

The next week, I started a small plan, not complicated but enough to change things. I let To Dinh prepare the bakery's revenue report in my name. First month, revenue 86,000, profit 31,000. The second month, it is expected to reach 150,000. I gave that report to Chu Minh Vien.

“I'll pass it on to my sister.”

"For what?"

“She wants to know if I have any money, so show her some reasonable thing—a friend's bakery, I work there.”

“Then I told my sister, you are working there, salary 5,000.”

He looked at me for a second, then understood.

“You're diverting her attention.”

“What if she finds out that the store belongs to you?”

"The license is in To Dinh's name, the money also goes through his account, she can't check it."

He nodded.

“Okay, let me talk.”

The next day, he called Chu Minh Le.

“Sister, Hieu Hieu found a job, working at a friend's bakery, salary 5,000.”

The other end of the line was silent for two seconds.

“Work for hire? At the bakery?”

“People operate and make cakes?”

“Just do it temporarily, it's better than staying at home.”

Another two seconds of silence.

“Then tell him to do it properly.”

That evening, Chu Minh Le posted a new post after more than a month of silence. A cup of coffee, with the status line: "Some people win thirty million, some people earn 5,000, life is so interesting."