Chapter 6 — Tuition Fees for Other People's Daughters

Director Tan gave me a yellowed letter: "Take it first. After the meeting, I will take you to the archives room." I'm not open. Tham Kien Quoc suddenly rushed forward and grabbed my wrist. "Don't watch!" Chu Duong rushed up and pushed him: "Let go!" Security guards detained Tham Kien Quoc. He struggled, his eyes staring at the letter. "Tham Chi, if you see it, you will regret it." I held the letter in my arms: "It's not me who should regret it." The corner of his mouth twitched and he said something that made me cold from head to toe. "What your mother left behind was not only money." "She also left a secret." When Tham Kien Quoc was taken out by security guards, he still turned his head to look at the letter in my hand. Dean Tan told the person next to him to keep the documents carefully and then told the academy leadership: "I will report today's situation to both the school and the Relief Association. The disclosure of students' private information must definitely find out who is responsible." The academy leader nodded repeatedly, his forehead sweating. Tong Nhiem stood next to the table, her weak expression just now gone. She looked at Luu Tinh: "Why did you harm me?" Luu Tinh laughed out of anger: "I hurt you? When you told me to post, you said Tham Chi's family had money but pretended to be poor, saying his father had agreed to teach him a lesson. Now something happens, you push me away?" "I don't have it." "You do." Luu Tinh handed the phone to Ms. Truong, "There is both a chat history and a bank transfer. You give me five hundred yuan to buy interactions." Chu Duong immediately continued: "Poor students casually spend five hundred yuan to buy interactions, it's very touching." Tong Nhiem gritted his teeth: "That's the money I earned from working part-time." I looked at her: "Where can I work part-time?" She choked. The staff behind homeroom manager Tan asked: "Tong, your poverty certificate also needs to be verified. The two addresses in the document just now are not the same, there is also a problem with the seal." Tong Nhiem's tears fell again: "Why is everyone targeting me? I just want to go to school." I said, “I just want to go to school.” She looked at me as if stabbed by that statement. Tham Kien Quoc was no longer there, no one stood in front of her to shield her. The people who normally surround her and pity her all avoid her eyes at this time. Ms. Truong sealed the phone and informed Tong Nhiem to temporarily return to the dormitory to await investigation. Walking to the door, Tong Nhiem suddenly turned around. "Tham Chi, don't think that if Director Tan helps you, you win. Do you dare to tell everyone what was written in your mother's letter?" Before I could open my mouth, Director Tan said: "Giang Van has lived a pure life, it's not your turn to use her to scare people." Tong Nhiem's face turned white, she quickly left the room. After the meeting, I followed Chairman Tan to the storage room in the old building. The old building's walls are covered with green moss, and the hallways smell of disinfectant. Director Tan opened the safe and took out a parchment bag. "Your mother asked me to keep it for you. She said that if you lived peacefully before the age of twenty-one, there was no need to rush to give it to you. If you didn't live well, I had to hand it over to you." I opened the paper bag. Inside were letters, an old store transfer contract and an old photo. In the photo, my mother stands in front of a small embroidery factory, next to a young man who is not Tham Kien Quoc. The man was holding a baby still in diapers, the smile on his face was extremely tired. I stared at the child in the photo. Director Tan did not urge me. I opened the letter, inside was my mother's familiar handwriting. Chi Chi, if you see this letter, it proves that I cannot continue to accompany you on a longer journey. Don't resent yourself, and don't be humiliated for anyone else

to the point where there is no way left. What my mother left me was not a large amount of money, but a way out. Reading this, tears made the words in front of my eyes blur. There are a few lines at the back of the letter. You are not Tham Kien Quoc's biological daughter. He knows that. That year, he agreed to marry his mother because she gave him the profits of the embroidery factory and two shops to manage. He promised to take care of his child until he graduated from college. My hand stopped. Chu Duong stood next to him, softly swearing. Director Tan said: "When my mother was seriously ill, she discovered that he had misappropriated part of the money. She asked her aunt to help preserve the evidence, but at that time her health was too poor, so she only had time to draw up a trust." I raised my head: "Where is your biological father?" Director Tan was silent for a few seconds: "His name is Co Minh Xuyen, he passed away in an accident many years ago. My mother doesn't want to mention too much, just saying he wasn't a bad person." I looked at the man in the photo, as strange as another life. "Shen Kien Quoc knows that you are not his biological daughter, so he hates you like that?" Director Tan sighed: "He doesn't hate because you are not his biological child. He hates because the things your mother left you cannot completely belong to him." These words hurt more than what Tham Kien Quoc scolded me. Turns out I'm not a debt collector.