Chapter 15 — After Notarizing 5 Houses, I Just Got Married

He turned and left. The foreman next to him leaned closer.

“Director To, who is it?”

“People of Thinh Hang fund.”

"Thinh Hang? Is that a fund that manages tens of billions of yuan?"

“That's so young.”

I bent down to look at the business card. Co Dien, Thinh Hang Investment Fund, Co-founder and Joint Partner. Scale of assets under management: 6.8 billion yuan (about more than 23,000 billion VND). I put the business card in my pocket. The next week, because of construction details of the hotel project, Co Dien and I encountered each other three times. Every time it's purely for work. His style is extremely direct—only professional talk, no nonsense. When giving feedback, he never uses the words “I feel,” but always “what the data shows” and “comparisons with similar projects.” The third meeting was in Cam Hoa's meeting room, with my aunt present. She sat in the chair position, Co Dien sat on her right hand. At the end of the meeting, she told me to stay.

“What instructions does President To have?”

“Don't call me President To, call me Miss.”

“At the company—”

“This meeting room is soundproof.”

She poured a glass of water and pushed it to me.

“What kind of person do you think Co Dien is?”

“Very strong working capacity, very professional work.”

"Don't beat around the bush with me. May I ask, what is your personal assessment of him?"

“Auntie, I've only been divorced for two months.”

“I didn't tell you to marry him.”

She glanced at me.

"I'm just reminding you that worthy people don't come along every day. You may not be in a hurry, but don't close the door to your heart."

I did not respond. But when I got home that night, I took Co Dien's business card out of my pocket and placed it right next to the pen on my desk. Then turn on the computer and continue drawing the drawing. The following days passed like that. Work fills the day, and occasionally going out to eat with Lam Dao fills the evening. Sometimes late at night I remember a few things, but quickly get swept away by the next day's schedule. Three months have passed. The hotel project enters the final stage of completion. The final result exceeded everyone's expectations—On the day of acceptance, Ha Chi Vien said one sentence: "Exceeding the budget by thirty thousand but completely worth this value." Breaking an unprecedented rule, she sent a message to the company's general group: "Hotel project of the Design department, achieved maximum score. Congratulations to the whole team." Below are more than two hundred “congratulatory” messages jumping continuously. I sat in the office, drinking a sip of coffee. It's cold. I don't remember exactly when it was poured. The phone vibrates. It's a strange number. I picked up the phone. The voice was very familiar. It's Tran Hao. He changed his phone number. I said nothing.

"I know you probably don't want to hear me. But I just want to say one thing."

"For the crime of obstructing witnesses, the Procuracy has decided to waive prosecution. Because of the light circumstances, combined with the fact that you actively confessed to the crime—In general, you do not have to go to jail."

“So what?”

"If it's not like that, then what's the matter? I just want to let you know, I've had a very difficult life these past few days. My salary is six thousand, I still owe 190,000 on the app loan, and my mother's health isn't good either—"

“Tran Hao.”

“You say it.”

“What is the purpose of this phone call?”

He was silent for a moment.

“Sometimes I think, if I hadn't asked for that house from you in the first place—”

“No There is an if.”

“Don't call again.”

I hung up and blocked this new phone number. On the river outside the window, the sunset dyed the water orange. I stood in front of the window, looking at those rays of sunlight. Those people, those things, were in a past life. The success of the hotel project gave me some reputation in the industry. A number of outside cooperation invitations began to arrive. Among them, there is an invitation from Thinh Hang Investment Fund. Co Dien's assistant sent me an email. Title: "Invitation to cooperate in designing a chain of long-term accommodation service apartments under Thinh Hang". Extremely solemn content: Thinh Hang Foundation owns a new model long-term accommodation service apartment brand, is currently preparing interior design for the first 4 branches, and wants to invite Cam Hoa Design Department to participate in the bidding. Bidding budget: The design fee for each branch is 2 million yuan. Four branches, total design contract worth 8 million yuan (about more than 27 billion VND). For a department like us that has only been established for half a year, this is a huge project. I forwarded this email to you. She only answered two words: "Go negotiate." The tender was scheduled for a week later. Participating in the bidding were three design companies. Besides us, the remaining two companies are famous design offices in Shanghai and Shenzhen.