Chapter 3 — Thirty Years Later, We Brought Mom Home

Tham Gia Thu immediately fell silent. Tham Ngoc Nhu coughed softly.

"The ancestral house has seriously degraded, keeping it is just a burden. Gia Thu's company is lacking capital to turn around, I think of selling it to make up for it. Previously, Hoanh Vien also agreed."

Tri Chau closed the medical record.

"Currently, his illness is not stable and he does not have enough capacity to express his civil will."

Tham Ngoc Nhu frowned.

"Tri Chau, I'm also the one who watched you grow up, don't talk so harshly."

Tri Chau looked at her.

"She never watched me grow up."

Just one sentence. Stopped all of her back words. I walked over to the bed. There was a drop of water in the corner of Hua Hoanh Vien's eye. I don't know... It's a physiological reaction. Or regret comes too late. I bent down.

"Where is the book?"

His lips trembled slightly. The right hand groped under the pillow again. Tham Ngoc Nhu did not dare to stop him anymore. I put my hand under the pillow. An old key. Made of brass. The edges have worn away due to time. There was also a small piece of tape stuck on the key body. Above is my mother's handwriting. Western cabinet. I clasped the key in my palm. Tham Ngoc Nhu jumped up.

"It's just an old key in the house, it's of no use."

I put the key in my pocket.

"Is it effective or not..."

"I'll see for myself and see."

Her voice immediately became harsh.

"That's my house! Where did you get the key?"

I turned my head to look at her.

"Thirty years ago..."

"You yourself said it was my home too."

Tham Ngoc Nhu's lips trembled. I walked to the door and stopped.

"At the hospital, I will hire a professional nurse to take care of him, all costs will be borne by me. You can still continue to stay and take care of him."

Then, I looked at Tham Gia Thu.

"But from today..."

"Any assets in Hua Hoanh Vien's name, including the ancestral house, the old factory land and all related real estate..."

"If we don't have enough signatures from all three of us..."

"No one is allowed to touch it."

Tham Gia Thu smiled fiercely.

"Who are you threatening?"

Tri Dao leisurely stuffed the business card into his chest pocket.

"Just try it."

When we three sisters left the hospital, the rain had just stopped. The car stopped in front of the gate of the Hua family's ancestral house. The old iron gate has now been replaced with an electronic lock. Right in front of the gate hangs a large sign. Tham Thi Cultural Center (in preparation stage). I stood silently in front of the gate, staring at that text. Tri Dao cursed in a low voice.

"That's really bold."

I took out the brass key from my pocket. The western pavilion still exists. The cabinet is also still there. The outside lock had signs of being broken. Inside the closet, more than half of the furniture was gone. In the bottom compartment, there is a blue notebook left. I opened the first page. It's my mother's handwriting. Educational trust fund for three children of the Hua family. Initial capital: 8,600,000 yuan. Second page. Third page. Record detailed records of each revenue, expense and profit. Flip to the middle of the notebook... There are twelve completely torn pages. Tri Dao's face immediately darkened.

"The most important records of property transfers... were taken."

At that moment... Slow footsteps were heard outside the yard. A voice the old man spoke up.

"All is not lost yet."

I raised my head. In front of the gate was an old man with white hair, leaning on a cane, standing in the middle of the rain that had just stopped. He looked at me for a long time, his eyes were cloudy over the years but still unusually bright.

"Miss Tri Chanh..."

"I was waiting for you..."

"For thirty years."

The old man's name is Luc Trieu Minh. I still miss him. In the past, he was the head of the finance department of my father's company. When his mother was still alive, he often came to the house to deliver documents. Mom always called him Uncle Luc. After his father remarried, he quickly resigned from his job. Before my three sisters and I left, he secretly gave me an envelope. Inside was 5,000 US dollars.

"Take it and use it along the way."

At that time, I did not dare to accept it. He immediately stuffed the envelope into Tri Dao's schoolbag. Thanks to that 5,000 USD... The three of us were able to endure the two most difficult months when we first arrived in Melbourne. Thirty years later... He stood in front of the gate of his ancestors' house. The back is hunched. But his eyes are still as bright as ever. I walked over. He looked at me, his eyes gradually turning red.

"You... are so much like your mother."

Just that one sentence... My throat suddenly tightened. But I don't cry. It's not the time to cry. Luc Trieu Minh walked into the west house. Seeing that the cabinet had been broken open, his fingers trembled.

"In the end... she still took action."

"You mean Tham Ngoc Nhu?"

He nodded.

"As soon as your father remarried a few years later, I knew something was wrong."

"Before my mother passed away, she set up a trust fund for the three sisters."

"Cash, profits from store rows, and a share of the old factory land..."

"I leave it all to the children."

"My father is just the temporary manager."

Tri Dao opened the notebook.

"Is there any written documentation?"

Luc Trieu Minh took out a yellow paper file bag from his cloth bag. The outside is also covered with many layers of moisture-proof nylon.

"I only keep the copy."

"The original was kept in my father's office."

He looked at me.

"Later..."

"It disappeared."

I received the file bag. Inside is a draft to establish a trust fund. There is a bank statement bearing mother's signature. There are several votes confirming receipt of documents from the notary office that year. Most important... It is my father's handwritten commitment to only manage the property on behalf of the three sisters. Tri Dao looked at each sheet one by one. His face became colder and colder.

"Like this..."

"There are enough conditions to request an investigation."

Luc Trieu Minh lowered his voice.

"It's not over yet."

He took out an old, faded photo. In the photo... My mother is sitting in front of her desk. On the table lay a red notebook and a black jewelry box. Luc Trieu Minh pointed to the corner of the photo.

"At the bottom of that jewelry box..."

"There is a copy of the real estate ownership certificate that my grandfather left for my mother."

"Two rows of shops on the west side of the ancestral house..."

"They were all my mother's private property before she got married."

I silently looked at the photo. That jewelry box... I've seen it before. It was the box that Tham Ngoc Nhu took away that year. I put the photo in a folder.

"Where does she keep those things now?"

Luc Trieu Minh shook his head.

"In recent years, she has transferred everything worth anything to the Van Giang apartment complex."

"The ancestral house is now just a shell."

Van Giang Cong Quan. One of the neighboring apartment buildings The most expensive river in Hai Thanh. My father once told my three sisters:

"The children are grown, they have to fend for themselves."

However... He used the property my mother left behind... Buying a house along the river for another woman and her son. Tri Chau stood by the window. The back of the hand is covered with blue veins. Tri Dao closed the file.

"Don't go to Van Giang Cong Quan yet."

"She's waiting for us to lose our temper."