Chapter 15 — Transfer Rate Changed

“Director Trieu, you should also say it in front of everyone tomorrow.”

He did not immediately accept. The female comrade from the disciplinary team spoke up: "Director Trieu, if you are still afraid, we can make a working record." Trieu Khai Minh sighed: "I will say." The car arrived at Van Linh at dawn. The medical station was full of people. Old Trinh stood on the steps wearing a white blouse, holding an enamel mug, the lid of which was crooked. Seeing me, he quickly walked down.

“Khuong Ninh, you're home.”

A man wearing an officer-style jacket walked out of the crowd: "Doctor Khuong, we need to verify each item in the complaint." Old Trinh held a stack of registration books and slammed them on the table: "Check it out. I've been here for seven years. I'm missing a page and I'll change my last name to yours." Someone shouted loudly in the crowd: "Doctor Khuong accepted bribe money? If she accepted money, my pig would have been sold eight generations ago." An old woman jumped in first: "I gave her eggs and she didn't even take them. She said I had high blood sugar, so I kept the eggs to nourish her." The officer grimaced: "Everyone, don't cause trouble to hinder the investigation." Liu Tieu Man helped a woman step forward: "This is my mother. Look at the scar on her leg. That year, Dr. Khuong carried her down the mountain and fell with five stitches on her knee. If she had taken the money, my family would have been the first to be plucked." The woman pulled out a wrinkled cloth bag from her chest: "Eight hundred yuan for the medicine Dr. Khuong advanced to me, I'll pay it in full today." I pushed the bag back: "Aunt Luu, I told you I don't need it." She panicked: "No way. The city people told you to accept the money, I have to make them open their eyes, you are the one who spends money to save people." The district officer flipped through the pile of photos and denounced: "So who can explain this photo of a wad of cash?" A tall, thin man pushed his way out of the crowd: "I'll explain. I'm Ly Dai Quy, I tried to sneak the money to Dr. Khuong. My father took emergency medicine, she said the medicine came from the station, no money was collected. I didn't believe it, I insisted on leaving it on the table. Later she asked Mr. Trinh to give it back to me." Old Trinh slapped the table with a "pop": "Here is the refund receipt." The district officer received the receipt and his face changed. I asked: "In the denunciation letter written on October 15, you gave me three thousand yuan." Ly Dai Quy glared: "That's a lie. On October 15, I was working at a construction site in another province and my leg was broken. Who wrote it? Let me go find him." The female disciplinary team comrade pulled out another photo: "What about the photo of delivering this high-risk case?" A young woman holding her child stood out from the crowd: "It's me. That day, there was a landslide and the car couldn't get in. If Dr. Khuong hadn't taken action, my mother and I would have lost our lives. Whoever reported it, tell him to come out here and confront me." The baby in her arms sucked her hand and smiled at me. Liu Tieu Man's eyes turned red and he scolded: "They sit in air-conditioned offices in the city and use people's lives to write slander." The officer protested: "We're just going to verify." Old Trinh slammed a cardboard envelope on the table: "Let's verify this then." I raised my eyes to look at him. Old Trinh said: "The day before you left, I picked up this express delivery bill at the pharmacy. The recipient is not someone from station, the sending address is the City People's Hospital dormitory. The logo of the printing shop on the set of denunciation photos also matches the one on the bill of lading." Trieu Khai Minh suddenly raised his head: "The dormitory area?" Old Trinh handed me the bill of lading: "I wanted to call you to let you know, but the phone kept saying busy." I received the paper. The sender's name clearly states three words: Tran Ngoc Lan. Liu Tieu Man cursed loudly: "That old woman is really cruel."