Chapter 23: Chapter 23 Facing It — Where the Sun Returns

Ms. Hà did not respond to Miên's messages all day long, making her almost lose all hope. But late at night, when Miên was about to turn off her phone and go to sleep, a call from Ms. Hà's number made her wake up immediately.

"Let's go to the old coffee shop, in thirty minutes," Ms. Hà's voice on the phone sounded a bit tired, different from her usual sharp confidence. "It's just me."

Miên looked at Phong standing next to him, hesitated for a second before shaking his head to himself. "I'm going with him. No more hiding, I already told you that." The other end of the line was silent for a moment, then sighed. "Okay. You both just come."

The small coffee shop in Đá Bàn town was now empty, with only yellow light shining down on the empty wooden tables. Ms. Hà sat alone in a hidden corner, in front of her was a cup of black coffee that had long since cooled, her hand fiddled with her phone as if she was hesitating about something very important.

When she saw Miên and Phong walk in, Ms. Hà smiled slightly, but that smile no longer had the usual confidence, but carried a deep fatigue.

"I asked you if you believe in what the corporation is doing here," Ms. Hà started before they could sit down, her voice deep. "The honest answer is, no. I don't believe it."

Miên and Phong looked at each other, unable to hide their surprise at this sudden frankness. All the way from home to town, the two had prepared themselves for a tense, even fierce confrontation, but no one expected Ms. Hà to open her mouth with such a naked confession, without any defense like in previous meetings.

"I thought I would have to convince you more times," Miên said, her voice cautious, not daring to completely believe this sudden change. "What made you change your mind so quickly?"

Ms. Hà laughed dryly, that smile quickly faded, giving way to a tired look clearly visible on her face, which was always carefully made up. "It's not one thing, but a series of sleepless nights since the day I met you again at the farm. You know, after leaving there, I drove home and kept thinking about the story 'vegetables with holes in them' you wrote. I reread that post no less than ten times on the way back to Saigon that day."

"So why do you continue to push the project?" Phong spoke up, his voice was straightforward but not harsh.

Ms. Hà laughed dryly, a bitter laugh. "Do you think I really want to do this? Chairman Dinh gave me a target to complete the acquisition of Đá Bàn valley within this quarter, otherwise, the Director position that I had to trade for many years to get will be replaced by another person who is willing to do anything to meet the target. I have seen the real internal report of the project, Miên. Just as you suspected: the 'eco-village' is just a front, most of it is present. The area will be converted into a large-scale industrial farming area, using maximum chemicals to ensure export output, completely contrary to what marketing promotes outside."

"So why did you still convince me to participate and invite me to be an image consultant for a project you clearly know is a lie?" Miên asked, her voice mixed with disappointment and anger.

Ms. Hà was silent for a long time, her eyes looking down at the cold cup of coffee in front of her. "Because I'm so used to having to choose between conscience and survival at work, that I no longer clearly distinguish that line. I look at you, at the way you leave everything to find your true value, and to be honest, I envy you, Miên. I don't have the courage to do the same, because I don't have a garden, a grandmother, or someone like Phong here to return to."

That hurtful confession made the atmosphere in the coffee shop weaken. Miên looked at the woman who had been her obsession for four years. Now appearing before her eyes was not a cold villain, but a person who was also imprisoned and suffocated by the same machine she escaped from, just like she was before.

"Miss Hà," Miên said, her voice softening. "I didn't come here to blame you. I came to ask you one thing: are you willing to do the right thing, even though it may cost you the position you've worked so many years to get?"

Ms. Hà looked up at Miên, her eyes filled with tears but still tried to maintain her last pride. "Do you think I've never considered that? I've had sleepless nights since the day I met you again. But if I hand over those internal documents to you guys, I will violate the confidentiality contract, may be sued, and my career will be completely over."

"But if you don't do anything, hundreds of households here will lose their land, the water source will be polluted, and a clean agricultural model that many people have worked hard to build will be wiped out," Phong said, his voice firm but not harsh. "Miss Hà, I don't know what you've been through in your work, but I believe, deep in your heart, you still retain a part of your conscience, otherwise you wouldn't be sitting here, losing sleep, and confessing all of this to us." Ms. Hà was silent for a long time, her hands clasped tightly together on the table. Finally, she sighed, a long breath as if releasing a burden that had been weighing on her shoulders for many months.

"I need time to think," Ms. Hà said, her voice shaking but less evasive. "The village meeting is tomorrow afternoon, right? I... I don't promise anything, but I will think carefully." Miên nodded, not forcing him further. She understood that this decision, for Ms. Hà, was not simply a moral choice, but a gamble that would risk the entire career she had worked so hard to build.

"There's something I want to tell you," Miên added, her voice unusually sincere. "In the past, I used to resent you a lot for the way you treated me at the old company. But now looking back, perhaps it was that pressure that pushed me out the door to find this path. I don't know if that consoles you somewhat, but I no longer resent you."

When Ms. Hà heard that, the corners of her eyes turned red. She quickly turned away, used her vest sleeve to quickly wipe away a tear that was about to spill out, trying to retain the last bit of dignity of a woman used to standing in a position of power. "You... are still as gentle as before, even though your hands are now full of callouses from digging."

That half-joking, half-serious statement eased the tense atmosphere in the coffee shop a bit. The three sat for a while longer in silence, each pursuing their own thoughts, before Phong spoke up to break the silence.

"Whatever you decide, I thank you for being honest with us tonight," Phong said, his voice sincere. "Not everyone in your position would be brave enough to admit the truth, even without knowing what to do about it."

On the way home, Phong held Miên's hand tightly, the two walked in silence under the late moonlight of Đá Bàn town. "What do you think she will do?" Phong asked softly.

"I don't know," Miên replied honestly. "But at least this time, I saw the real person behind that sharp facade. And I believe, whether she helps us or not, tomorrow, we still have to stand firm with our own strength and that of everyone in the village."

That night, the two returned home, preparing the final documents for tomorrow's fateful village meeting: real numbers from Uncle Bảy's test plot, documents Kiên had collected, and a presentation that Miên stayed up all night to draft, mobilizing all the storytelling skills she used to build an entire brand from scratch.

Near morning, when Phong fell asleep from exhaustion in the chair next to his desk, Miên still sat there, eyes glued to the laptop screen, editing each slide and each statistic so that it was both easy to understand and touched the hearts of the simple farmers who would sit in the hall tomorrow morning. She knew this could be the most important presentation of her life, more important than any million-dollar advertising campaign she'd ever dreamed of doing back in the city. Because this time, what she protected was not the sales of an unfamiliar brand, but an entire land, a community, and the love she had found here.

Outside the window, the last starlight of the night gradually faded before dawn broke. Miên looked up at the sky, which was gradually changing from black to dark blue, and took a deep breath to calm her mind. Tomorrow, all her efforts, Phong's, and all the honest farmers here will be weighed against an irreversible decision.