Chapter 10 — Two Houses and One Border

Real estate service company. Reward information. Real estate information. The two lines touch each other in the same family, I have a hard time believing this is a coincidence. I asked the police: "What is the relationship between Tan Loi and Tan Phuong?" Police did not immediately respond. "We are still verifying, please do not proactively contact anyone." After hanging up, I sent that name to lawyer Tham. Lawyer Tham replied: "First check public information, don't buy private data." Manh Dao opened the phone. “Let me.” She makes plans for many years and finds public documents faster than me. In less than five minutes, she gave me a screenshot. “You look at this.” The photo is a family gathering video three years ago that the lottery store owner posted on a short video platform. In the picture, a man over twenty years old is sitting next to him. The caption wrote that his grandson came to the store to help. In the comments section, someone called him Loi Tu. Scroll down further, in another video, Tan Loi drives a white car, with a woman sitting in the passenger seat. The woman only showed half her face. Manh Dao finished zooming in and frowned. “Is this woman like the middle-aged woman Wei Cheng talked about?” I looked for a few seconds. Not like Ha Ngoc Mai, nor like her uncle-in-law. The woman's cheekbones are a bit thin and her eyebrows are very thin. I sent photos to Wei Thanh. “Last night you said the middle-aged woman who accompanied Duong Khai to the sales room was this person?” It took a long time for Wei Cheng to reply. "Alike." “But I can't be one hundred percent sure.” I asked directly. “Is she Tan Phuong?” This time he didn't play dumb anymore. “I'll go ask my colleagues.” Manh Dao parked the car in a parking space near the police station. “Don't come home tonight, come to my place.” I shook my head. “Can't come to your house.” “They're already looking for you. If I get to you, I'll drag you in.” She panicked. “So where are you?” I thought for a moment and texted lawyer Tham. “Can you help me contact temporary accommodation? Don't reveal registration information to unrelated people.” Lawyer Tham replied: "I have a cooperative hotel, the receptionist will coordinate security, but you need to come and register yourself." I agree. We had just arrived at the hotel door when Wei Thanh's text message arrived. "Miss Duong, the receptionist said that the woman who was with Duong Khai that day was indeed Tan Phuong." "She said that at that time, Tan Phuong also mentioned something, saying that her other project files were also handled by her." I stared at this sentence, the fire in my chest immediately flared up. Turns out it's not possible. It was her mouth that accidentally said it. I asked Nguy Thanh: "Why does your project let outside service staff come into contact with customer records?" He replied: "There are some mortgage documents and signing contracts online that will be arranged through the cooperative company." I said: “So she can see identification, contact information, apartment information.” Wei Thanh did not dare to answer. I saved them all. Just after completing the check-in procedure, a strange number texted again. “It's useless to run away.” "Tomorrow morning at ten o'clock, at the gate of your village, someone will know that you won the big prize." “Your parents' face will be lost by you.” I sat on the edge of the hotel bed, looking at that text, suddenly remembering my childhood. The year I passed the city's key high school entrance exam, Ha Ngoc Mai set up two wine tables at the village gate. She told each person, my daughter is talented. But when the party ended, she put away the money to celebrate and said to me: "You must remember, reading books is using the family's money." Later, I went to university, tuition was paid by student loans, and living expenses were based on part-time jobs. She still said in front of relatives: "Even if a daughter studies well, she is still not as good as a son who stays by her side." I always want to live well, so they can admit that I'm not a loser. Now I understand, it's not like they didn't see me living well. They just can't stand the fact that the benefits of that good life don't belong to them. I don't reply to messages. I took out my phone's SIM card and inserted it into my backup phone. Then give the old phone to Manh Dao. “If there are still messages, just take a screenshot, don't reply.” She nodded. At eleven o'clock at night, the police informed me.

“Found Tan Loi.” "He did not admit to sending the text messages, but on his phone we discovered a cache of your photos at the reward center." “He said the photo was sent to him by someone else.” I asked: “Who?” The police said: "He said it was Tan Phuong." I closed my eyes. The line finally reached her. But the next second, the police spoke again. “Can't contact Tan Phuong now.” “Her company said she would like to take leave this afternoon and go back to her hometown.” I opened my eyes. “To where?” The police read a district name. This is my hometown district. Manh Dao heard from the side and his face changed. On my phone, a new voice message from Ha Ngoc Mai appeared. She cried and said: "Tieu Hoa, please go home quickly." "Tan Phuong has already told everyone in the village about your winning the prize." 12 After listening to that voice message, I didn't immediately reply. The room was very quiet.