Chapter 14 — A Day as a Janitor

Finishing her sentence, her gaze drifted down to the employee badge pinned to my chest.

"Ngoc Tran, you are a crucial party in this incident. Please cooperate and give your statement."

I nodded.

"I will."

Someone in the crowd muttered under their breath.

"She is about to retire anyway. What is she making such a fuss for?"

I turned my head to look. The speaker was Yao Zhen, the director of the branding department. Catching my gaze, he immediately averted his eyes. I walked straight up to him.

"Director Yao, what did you just say?"

Yao Zhen forced an awkward smile.

"Sister Tran, I was only concerned about the company's image."

I replied, "The company's image cannot be preserved by silencing the victim." No one else around us dared to make a sound. Liang Zheng Nghi motioned for someone to invite me into the conference room. Unlike Zheng Huai Nhan and the others, she did not make me stand. She pointed to a chair right beside the head of the table.

"Sit down and speak."

I took a seat and recounted the timeline of the day from the very beginning, starting with my reassignment at nine o'clock. The transfer decision. The temporary work roster. The audio recording on the twenty-eighth floor. The old archives on the twenty-ninth. The iron cabinet in the basement. The abandoned factory warehouse. The genuine roster. Every single detail I shared was the unvarnished truth, without a single word exaggerated. Liang Zheng Nghi took notes as she listened. The auditors seated beside her kept exchanging glances. Shen Zhao An sat across from me, remaining silent from start to finish. Once I finished, Liang Zheng Nghi asked.

"Why did you sign the transfer order in the first place?"

I looked directly at her.

"Because I wanted to know what they were really after."

The tip of her pen paused. I continued.

"If I had kicked up a fuss right on the spot, it would have amounted to nothing more than a standard labor dispute."

"By signing it and putting on the sanitation uniform, they were lulled into believing I had simply accepted my fate."

"Once people grow overconfident in their victory, their hands inevitably reach too far."

Several people in the conference room lowered their heads. Liang Zheng Nghi studied me for a few long seconds.

"You are far calmer than I expected."

I said, "Thirty-two years have a way of forging that." Just then, Co Nam pushed the door open, his expression exceptionally grim.

"Chairman Shen, the announcement on the intranet has been altered."

Shen Zhao An raised his eyes.

"Who changed it?"

Co Nam handed over his tablet.

"The original announcement clearly stated that Zheng Huai Nhan, La Thien, and others were suspected of violating employee rights."

"Ten minutes ago, it was replaced with an edited version."

"The revised version removes any mention of intentional demotion and document tampering, claiming instead that the adjustment of Ngoc Tran's position was merely a misunderstanding."

My fingers slowly tightened into fists. A misunderstanding. When they were bullying others, they called it optimization. When their actions were exposed, they called it a misunderstanding. Liang Zheng Nghi asked, "Who has administrative access to the announcement system?" Co Nam looked toward Yao Zhen, who was being escorted into the room at that exact moment. The second he stepped through the door, he began protesting his innocence.

"I was merely maintaining the system announcements according to standard procedure. I have no idea who altered the content."

Liang Zheng Nghi turned the tablet to face him.

"System logs indicate the modification was made using your account."

Yao Zhen's expression froze.

"Someone else must have used my credentials."

I stared at him.

"And what about your office door access logs?"

Yao Zhen was struck dumb. I added, "The card reader outside the branding department office was installed under my supervision three years ago."

"That system maintains independent logs and cannot be erased."

Co Nam immediately dispatched someone to retrieve the records. In less than five minutes, the data was printed out. At six-and-three minutes in the morning, Yao Zhen entered the branding department. At six-and-eleven minutes, the announcement was modified. Sweat began to bead on Yao Zhen's forehead.

"I merely received a phone call."

Liang Zheng Nghi asked, "Whose call?" Yao Zhen gritted his teeth and remained silent. I slid my phone across the table toward him.

"Check the call history."

Yao Zhen abruptly raised his head.

"By what authority do you demand to inspect my phone?"

Liang Zheng Nghi calmly replied, "You have the right to refuse."

"However, the audit team will make a note of your refusal to cooperate in our official report."

Yao Zhen's hands trembled. Finally, he placed his phone on the table. In the call log, at five-fifty-eight this morning, there was a call from an unrecognized number. Co Nam glanced at it, and his expression shifted instantly.

"This is an internal extension belonging to the Board Secretariat."

Shen Zhao An's face darkened completely. At that moment, an auditor rushed in from the general manager's office.

"Head Liang, inside the safe on the twenty-eighth floor, we discovered a voluntary resignation letter signed by Tuan Ngoc Tran."

"The date on the document is today."

"It bears her signature and a red thumbprint."

Everyone in the conference room turned to look at me. I couldn't help but laugh. They truly never knew when to quit.

14

When the voluntary resignation letter was placed upon the table, the edges of the paper still carried the chill of the safe. The document was meticulously drafted, stating that due to personal reasons, I was forfeiting all benefits and positions prior to my retirement, resigning of my own volition, and waiving any claims for severance pay from the company. In the signature box, the three characters of my name were written in neat strokes, accompanied by a bright red fingerprint. Sister Vuong stood at the doorway, trembling with fury the moment she laid eyes on the paper.

"Ngoc Tran, you certainly didn't sign this, did you?"

I stared down at the sheet of paper.