Chapter 9 — Two Houses and One Border

"Don't answer, don't go see, all contact will only be kept as a trace." The police also called. “Where are you now?” I said: “Bank door.” "Don't go back to Nam Loan, go to a crowded place first, wait for us to contact our colleagues at the lottery store to verify." I stood under the streetlight, looking at the bright glass window of the convenience store opposite, suddenly feeling that this city was more strange than before. From the day I won the prize, I thought that if I just kept my mouth shut, cleaned up the procedures, the money would be quietly in my account. But now, every gap feels like a hand reaching in. Reward Center. Bank. Lottery ticket shop. Real estate services. Relative. Anywhere can get wind. Manh Dao quickly ran over. She stopped the car on the side of the road, rolled down the window, and her first words were: "Get in the car." I sat in the passenger seat, she locked the car door. Her eyes were still red, but calmer than I expected. “I just asked a friend who works in the media.” “He said that in your situation, the scariest thing is not your relatives coming to your door to cause trouble.” "It's that they packaged the story of him winning a prize and buying a house as news of an unfilial daughter, spreading it throughout the countryside." I nodded. "That's why their threats will spread to every house." Manh Dao held the steering wheel and shouted. “They don't want money, they want to strip you clean.” I said nothing. The phone lights up again. Still that strange number. "If you don't come, don't blame me for throwing things out." This time below attach a photo. Not a photo of my house. It's my back signing in the city's central lobby to receive awards. The photo's angle is very high, like it was taken from a side window. I stared at the photo, my heart suddenly sank. Inside the reward center, unrelated people are prohibited from taking photos. That day when I went in, the staff specifically reminded me not to reveal anything. But now, my back has been sent to my phone. Manh Dao saw it and his voice also changed. “This isn't something the lottery store owner could take, right?” I said: “No.” She asked: “So who is it?” I enlarged the photo. The edge of the photo reveals a piece of blue business card strap. Can't see the name clearly, but you can see the bottom of the card case has two words printed on it. Welfare lottery. I sent photos to the police. In less than ten minutes, the police responded. “My colleague went to the lottery store, the store was closed, the store owner was not there.” Immediately after that, lawyer Tham sent a text message. “You can probe back, but don't admit any truth.” I asked him how he probed. He sent a sentence. "Tell the other person to prove their identity, otherwise we won't talk." I did and sent it over. “Who are you?” The other party quickly responded. “Don't care who I am.” I continued typing. “I only talk to people who can prove the origin of the reward information.” Opposite stopped for a long time. Then send a voice message. I don't turn on speakerphone. I put the phone to my ear. Inside was a man's voice, deliberately lowered, but still somewhat familiar. “Duong Hoa, more than eight million fell into your hands, do you think you can really hide it for the rest of your life?” “At first when I went to claim my prize, the lottery shop owner showed me the way.” “Now you don't even dare to meet him?” My finger stopped. He said he wasn't going to the reward center. He said the lottery shop owner showed me the way. But that day, the lottery shop owner didn't come with me at all. He just closed the shop and told me to go to the city to receive the reward myself. This person said it wrong. I immediately forwarded the recording to the police and lawyer Tham. Lawyer Tham replied: "He was testing your reaction, he was not the one who knew directly." My heart calmed down a bit. But before I could breathe out, my mother's phone called. I don't listen. She sent a voice message again. “Tieu Hoa, please stop causing trouble.” "Your eldest uncle told you that as long as you take the money out, he won't let that person continue to give it out." I looked at that voice message and suddenly burst into laughter. It turned out that they and the person sending the message were not completely separate. At least Duong The Xuong knows who the other person is. Manh Dao also heard and understood.

“Your mother gave the clue herself.” I saved the voice messages and forwarded them to the police. Then I answered Ha Ngoc Mai with four words. “Who is that person?” She did not answer. Half a minute later, the strange number sent another message. “Your mother really doesn't keep her mouth shut.” My spine went cold. This proves that the other person is next to the Duong family, or looking at their phone. I raised my head and looked out the car window. In the darkness, every parked car seemed to hide its eyes. At this moment, the police phone called. “Duong Hoa, do you know the grandchild of the lottery shop owner?” I said: "Not familiar." The police voice was a little lower. "The shop owner is not at the shop. His family said his grandson had been to the shop this afternoon." "This grandson's name is Tan Loi." 11 The name Tan Loi, this is the first time I heard it. But this Qin family immediately made another person pop into my mind. Tan Phuong. Duong Khai's wife's cousin.