Chapter 2 — After the Rain, There's No Turning Back

Later, when the rescue team found him, his hand was still on the old-fashioned radio, with mud between his fingernails. My mother returned from the funeral home, and after just one night her hair turned white. She didn't cry, just gave me my father's old notebook. The notebook was soaked in water until it swelled, the edges of the paper curled as if they had been licked by a tongue of fire. The first page reads a sentence: Mountains don't kill people, late news does. After that, I went to Cang Thanh to study at university, studying computer science and also studying hydrological modeling. Others write games, write recommendation algorithms, write financial trading programs. And I write about rain. The sound of rain falling on the eaves, the sound of rain bouncing on the cement floor, the sound of rainwater pouring into the sewer, the echo torn apart by the wind in the valley. I separate them into data and then feed them into the model. At that time, no one took me seriously. Professor said:

“Trinh Kien Vi, this research direction of yours is too narrow, there is not much possibility of commercialization.”

The student said:

“The warning system has been around for a long time. What can a student like you do?”

Only Chu Tu Bach said:

“I believe in you.”

At that time, he was not yet the heir to Bac Ngan Group, just a graduate student specializing in running startup competitions. He wore a faded shirt and helped me move servers in the library. I used to think that was the original form of love. Thinking back later, when we are young, it is easy for people to confuse "someone standing next to us" and "someone standing on our side". At the age of twenty-four, I completed the first version of "Vu Dang". It does not depend on expensive monitoring station systems. All it takes is a cheap rain gauge, a soil moisture sensor, a loudspeaker in the village and a small application on the phone to be able to issue warnings at levels one to three hours before a flash flood breaks out. I took it to the International Young Engineers Award and won the gold medal. In the same year, Chu Tu Bach founded Trung Hai Technology. He said:

"Kien Vi, come to my company. The technology belongs to you, the market is left to me. Let's bring it nationwide."

I asked:

“How is the contract written?”

He was stunned, then laughed, gently rubbing the tip of my nose.

“You don't believe me?”

I said:

"It's not that I don't believe you. Feelings are feelings, contracts are contracts."

Chu Tu Bach was silent for three seconds. Three very short seconds, so short that I almost missed it. Then he still smiled and said:

“Okay, everyone listens to me.”

So I did not join Trung Hai Technology. I established my own laboratory, naming it “Micro-Optics Laboratory”. What I signed with Trung Hai Technology is a project cooperation agreement, not an intellectual property transfer contract. The third clause of the agreement is written very clearly: The core algorithm, training data set, model upgrade rights and commercial licensing rights of "Vu Dang" all belong to Trinh Kien Vi and Vi Quang Laboratory. I kept three original paper copies of this agreement, saved the scanned copy as evidence, registered it at the notary office, and the source code is also marked on the blockchain. Chu Tu Bach once laughed at me:

“You're too careful.”

At that time I also laughed.

“My father taught me.”

“When it rains, don't trust the color of the sky, trust the ruler measure the water level.”

2. Just an hour after the failed press conference, the internet exploded. Top search keyword: #Trinh Kien Vi refused to donate life-saving algorithm# Second place: #Chu Tu Bach was exposed by his fiancee right at the press conference# Third place: #Diep Thanh Duong in tears# My private message was cursed to the point that the app froze. Some people say I'm selfish. Some people say I relied on my fiance to climb up. Now that I'm fully grown, I'll turn around. There were also people who dug up old news about my father and sarcastically said:

“Her father died from a flash flood, so she understands the suffering of children in the mountains the most. As a result, she is also the person who knows how to use suffering to make money the best.”

I took a photo of each comment and saved it as evidence. At ten o'clock in the evening, Chu Tu Bach finally arrived. At that time I was sitting in the laboratory eating instant noodles. Braised beef flavor. Soaked noodles are a bit soft. The rain outside the window has not stopped yet. When he pushed the door open and walked in, more than half of his suit was wet, his tie was loose, and his whole person looked both tired and disheveled. If I had seen him like that before, maybe I would have softened my heart. Will pour hot water, get a towel, ask if he has eaten anything. This time, I just raised my head and glanced at the camera in the corner of the wall.

“You have three minutes.”

Chu Tu Bach stood at the door, breathing heavily.

"Trinh Kien Vi, what do you want to do today?"

I put down my noodle fork.

“I should be asking you this question.”

He closed his eyes, as if trying to be patient.

“The Thanh Duong Foundation works for the public good. Handing over the 'Post Department' to them will help the project be implemented faster."

“Deploy faster, or quickly be included in the listing profile of Trung Hai Technology?”

His eyes turned cold. I continue:

“Next month you will submit the prospectus. In the mainstream business, there is a lack of a core technology that has social value, receives policy support, and can tell an emotional story.”

“‘Vu Dang’ is just a perfect fit.”

“There is my father's death, there are children in the mountains, there is public service, there are female engineers.”

“What a beautiful story.”

Chu Tu Bach stared at me.

“Do you have to think I'm that dirty?”

I burst out laughing.

“I don't have to imagine.”

I took a stack of documents from the drawer and threw them on the table.