The old man lived alone at the end of the village for nearly 20 years, the villagers were going to go to the village on the same day, but suddenly discovered an important document under the bed, the whole district had to stop the ceremony immediately, it turned out that he was…

For nearly 20 years, he lived in a dilapidated hut at the end of the village, with no wife and children, no relatives, all day long wearing an old mortar hat, picking up bottle ticks, babbling alone.

Children are afraid, adults are pitiful. But no one really knew where he came from, only that one morning nearly twenty years ago, he carried

Then, that morning, Mr. Ba suddenly fell asleep.

The villagers gathered to organize the ceremony, planning to celebrate him always during the day in accordance with the custom of “lonely people, do not leave for long”. Some people were also moved:

“Poor, live quietly all your life, even if you die, there is no one by your side.”

But while cleaning the hut, a young man discovered that under the bed there was a sealed rusty iron box.
Thinking it was just a broken bronze, he smashed the lock. Inside is… a pile of papers. Immediately, the funeral stopped.

The commune reported to the district. The district sent the police to verify, and the whole district was shocked, he was not a lonely homeless man, but …

… Mr. Pham Van Huu, former Deputy Director of the Provincial Department of Justice – who was once believed to have mysteriously disappeared in a corruption case that shook more than 25 years ago.

The whole district was stunned. An old man picks up bottle ticks, wears honeycomb sandals, wears a torn mortar hat… It turned out to be a key link in the budget loss of tens of billions of dong during the renovation period.

In the pile of papers were:

Copies of working decisions with the province’s red seal.
A handwritten diary records in detail each “lubricating” mission, giving and receiving bribes of many high-ranking officials.
A thick volume of confidential documents with a series of names and signatures of people who are still in office.

In addition, there is a suicide note handwritten: “I am not running away, I am in self-exile. When the whole apparatus does not want to be clean, the person who wants to wash his hands must also disappear. I reserve this fact for the day when everything needs to be exposed.”

The provincial police immediately sealed the scene, bringing all the exhibits to the headquarters. The funeral was postponed indefinitely.

A week later, the press began to report: “Discovering the true identity of the old man in the bottle tick – revealing the secret of the corruption case that was once sunk!”

Many retired cadres turned pale. Some people quietly left the locality. Some people are also said to sell houses overnight.

Meanwhile, the villagers are confused, not sure whether to have pity on Mr. Ba or be afraid of Mr. Huu.

An old man shook his head: “I’ve lived near him for ten years, I haven’t seen him harm anyone, living quietly like a shadow. But now I know he’s been carrying a bomb all his life.”

After a month of investigation, the police announced:

The documents left by Mr. Huu are very authentic and valuable for investigating many suspended cases.
Some senior officials at that time were temporarily suspended to serve verification.

And in particular, the province decided to restore the identity and honor of Mr. Pham Van Huu – recognizing that he did not participate in the corruption case, but was the one who opposed it.

The funeral was held again, this time according to the ritual of senior officials. His photo is no longer an old man with gray hair, but a man in a suit, with erect eyes, sitting behind a desk full of documents.

The whole district saw them off.

He was erected a stone stele engraved with the words:

“Live like a shadow, die to shine.”
“He bears the shame to keep the truth.”