Chapter 20: Chapter 20 Silence — Where the Sun Returns

Three days after the secret meeting with Ms. Hà, Miên still couldn't find a way to tell Phong about the cooperation proposal. Every time she was about to speak, she hesitated, afraid that his reaction would make things more tense while the farm was struggling to handle too many events at the same time.

She decided to quietly learn more about Việt Xanh Group before making a final decision, telling herself that the more information she had, the easier it would be for her to convince Phong if this was indeed an opportunity worth considering. She arranged to meet Ms. Hà again at a small coffee shop in Đá Bàn town to ask for more details about the contract terms.

At the coffee shop, Ms. Hà presented in more detail the terms: the specific compensation price for each square meter of land, the project construction roadmap divided into three phases, and a special provision specifically for the Miên family if they agree to cooperate early, which is a "native cultural consultant" position to be retained to work right at the future eco-tourism area, with a not small salary.

"I want you to understand that this is not a cold acquisition," Ms. Hà emphasized, her hand flipping through each page of the sample contract. "The group always values the human element and local stories. That's why I want you to be the one to tell this story for the entire project, instead of letting some strange marketing team come up with a fake story."

Miên held the contract, her eyes scanned each clause, her heart was confused between the temptation of numbers and a vague feeling of insecurity that could not be named. She asked a few more questions about whether the people's current organic farming model would be retained in the project, but Ms. Hà's answer was always cleverly evasive, only emphasizing the immediate financial benefits.

Ironically, that day Phong also had to go to town to buy agricultural supplies. While driving the car through the main street, he accidentally saw Miên sitting in a coffee shop, opposite the woman in a gray suit that Uncle Bảy had told him about the day before, who had come to the farm to ask to buy land.

Phong stood still across the street, looking through the coffee shop window. Miên was holding a file of documents, her face seriously listening to what the other woman said, occasionally nodding as if considering something. A feeling of disappointment mixed with anger welled up in his heart, so fast and intense that he couldn't even control it.

He didn't go into the shop, nor did he call to ask directly. He quietly turned the car around and drove straight back to the farm with an unprecedented heaviness.

That night, when Miên returned home, she saw Phong sitting alone on the porch, holding a hoe but not moving, his eyes looking far into the darkness.

"Haven't you eaten yet?" Miên asked, trying to keep her voice natural.

"Where are you going?" Phong asked back, his voice colder than usual.

Miên paused for a second. "I... went to town to buy some things."

"Buying things, or meeting someone?" Phong turned to look straight at her, his sharp eyes rarely revealed. "I saw you sitting in a coffee shop with a woman in a gray vest from Việt Xanh Group. How long are you planning to hide from me?"

All the excuses in Miên's mind suddenly disappeared. She stood dumbfounded, unable to deny what Phong had just said.

"I... I wanted to tell you, but I couldn't find the right time," Miên stammered.

"The right time?" Phong's voice began to tremble from repression. "You met privately with a representative of a corporation that wants to devour this entire valley, not once but for the second time, and you call that not finding the right time to tell me?"

"Mr. Phong, listen to my explanation—"

"I don't need to explain anymore!" Phong stood up, his voice raised to her for the first time since the day they met. "I thought we were each other's shareholders, partners who trusted each other absolutely. It turns out that as soon as there was a bit of financial difficulty, she was ready to go to war with the very force that was threatening to take away the land that we shed blood and tears to build!"

"I don't go out at night with anyone!" Miên also burst into tears, her voice choked with anger. "I'm just trying to find every way to save this farm, save you too! The bank refuses, the hospital bills are piling up, do you know how much pressure I'm under? I have no one to share it with, I can only silently manage on my own!"

"So why didn't you tell me? What am I in this, an outsider?" Phong growled, his eyes red from anger and hurt. "Do you remember what I once told you? Land and people's trust, once lost, cannot be regained. Yet you secretly negotiated privately with the very person who wanted to take those things away, without telling me a word." Miên was silent, tears falling from her eyes. She wanted to explain that she had never agreed to anything, that she was just looking for information, but those words suddenly became weak and meaningless in the face of Phong's righteous anger.

"Perhaps..." Phong lowered his voice, but each word became heavier than any shout. "Perhaps you have never truly left that world. The world of numbers, contracts, life-changing opportunities. I thought you had found peace here, but it turns out I was just deluding myself."

That sentence was like a knife cutting straight into Miên's heart. She stood silently, unable to utter a word to refute, because deep inside, she was not sure of her own answer.

Phong turned around and walked inside, leaving Miên standing alone in the middle of the dark yard, the sound of crickets chirping around sounded so out of place. She sat down on the steps, covered her face and sobbed, tears rolling down carrying self-pity, regret and helplessness.

Mrs. Tám, still recuperating in her room, heard the argument and walked out with a cane. Seeing the scene of her granddaughter sitting and crying alone in the middle of the night, her heart was so sad that she couldn't speak. She quietly sat down next to Miên, didn't say anything, just reached out to pat her trembling back, like she did the first day Miên returned from the city with a broken heart.

"Grandma, did I do something wrong?" Miên sobbed and asked, her voice like a lost child. "I just wanted to find a way to save everyone, how did it end up like this?"

Mrs. Tám sighed, her voice quiet and filled with a lifetime of experience. "Everything you do comes from love, I know. But my child, when love is hidden, sometimes it turns into a wound for the person you love the most. Phong is not angry because you want to save the farm, he is angry because you no longer trust him enough to shoulder difficulties with him."

Mrs. Tám's simple words were like a hammer hitting the deepest part of Miên's heart, making her cry even more fiercely. She realized that her biggest mistake was not meeting Ms. Hà, but choosing to face difficulties alone, instead of trusting the person who had always stood by her side all these months.

That night, the small house on the plateau was engulfed in an unprecedented, heavy silence. Phong lay in his private room, his eyes wide open and staring at the ceiling, his heart mixed with anger and a vague fear that perhaps, they were at risk of losing each other, right at the time when Đá Bàn valley was also nearing the deadline to make a fateful decision for the fate of the entire land.

He remembered the night of the lanterns by the lotus pond, remembered the unfinished love confession that he had not been able to fully express before the flood hit. Perhaps, he thought, fate was deliberately teasing them, every time the two of them came close to a perfect moment, a major event would come and tear them all apart. He turned around and looked out the window where the late moonlight still poured quietly into the garden, wondering if tomorrow, between him and Miên, he would still be able to find the absolute trust like the first days.

On the porch, Miên still sat there long after Mrs. Tám had returned to the room to rest, her hands hugging her knees, her eyes staring blankly at the dark space in front of her. She took out her phone, reopened the text message agreeing to meet Ms. Hà that she sent a few days ago, her finger hesitated on the delete button for a long time but in the end she still didn't have the courage to delete it. Because deep inside, she knew, the problem was not with the corporation or with that attractive amount of money, but with her fear of an uncertain future, a fear that she thought she had completely left behind after her resignation letter last year.