Chapter 4 — Coffee Pairing Queen

I closed my eyes. Colleagues kept running to the bathroom. Not because “the acidity is too high”, but because they are drinking poison. “What are you going to do?” Co Nhien asked. "I will try to warn them first." "Do you think they will believe you?" I was silent for two seconds. "I don't know. But I have to try." Hanging up and returning to my desk, I thought and did not look for Phuong Di directly. I went to find Tieu Tran. In the whole office, before this happened, Tieu Tran was the only person who had a pretty good relationship with me. Although that day she also followed suit and threw rocks into the well, but at least after three years of living together, I feel that she is not a bad person. Just following the crowd. During lunch break, I stopped her at the coffee shop downstairs. "Tieu Tran, I have something to tell you." "What?" Seeing me, she lost her temper a bit. "Phuong Di's coffee, you better not drink it anymore." An impatient look flashed across her face. "Sister Ninh, don't be like that." "Isn't it because Phuong Di stole your attention that you came to speak ill of her?" "Doing something like that is very expensive." "No. I have reason to suspect that those beans have quality problems." "What problem?" "Maybe the mycotoxin content exceeds standard. People have diarrhea not because of acid, but because…” “Okay, okay.” Tieu Tran picked up the cup and stood up. "Sister Ninh, you helped us order coffee before, I'm really grateful." "But your behavior these past few days has left people cold." "Phuong Di is kind, inviting everyone to drink delicious beans for free. If you don't drink then that's fine, you still want to play tricks behind her back." "What kind of mentality do you have?" She left without waiting for me to answer. I stood there looking at her back, taking a sip of iced Americano in my hand. Okay. This road is impassable. PART 07 The next two days, I didn't look for anyone to talk to about this anymore. But I do two things. First, I dropped a letter into the company's anonymous suggestion box. The written content is very restrained, only saying: "Recently, a colleague had unpleasant symptoms after drinking coffee of unknown origin. We recommend that the company pay attention to food safety issues." Second, I asked Co Nhien to make an official inspection report. Electronic copy, stamped by the organization. I saved the report in my phone, but haven't sent it yet. I'm waiting. Wait for what? Wait for things to become a little clearer. Because I know, no matter what I say now, they won't believe it. In their eyes, I was the one who was "jealous of Phuong Di", "narrow-minded", "was robbed of attention and spread rumors". But the body doesn't know how to lie. The damage caused by aflatoxin is cumulative. If you continue to drink, the symptoms will become more and more obvious. Indeed. Day three. Ms. Ly asked for sick leave. "Acute gastroenteritis", the hospital certificate was sent to the group. Wednesday. Tieu Chu from the design department also went to the hospital. "The doctor said his liver function was a bit abnormal, so he told me to check further."Day five. Mr. Trieu sat at his desk with a yellow face, holding a box of Patchouli Chinh Khi solution in his hand. But he still drank Phuong Di's coffee. "It must have been hot weather recently, eating too much food delivered from outside." "It has nothing to do with coffee. In the past, when I drank Luckin that Ninh ordered, I also had a stomach ache." Phuong Di was also busy denying responsibility. "Everyone, please pay attention to food hygiene, the sewer oil in the food delivered outside is the real killer." "My beans are all imported and sent straight back, what could be the problem? If you don't believe me, look at the inspection certificate." "She actually took out a piece of paper, with a red stamp on it, saying "Satisfies quarantine testing requirements". From a distance it looks quite similar. But I recognize that type of paper. Because of the quarantine testing certificate

Imported food is truly indispensable in formats, codes and QR codes. I used my phone to scan the QR code on her paper. The link redirects to a 404 error page. It's fake. PART 08 On Friday, the company's human resources department called me to talk. It's not about coffee. It's about that anonymous letter. "Khuong Ninh, you wrote this letter, right?" Human resources director Luu Phuong sat opposite, his finger tapping on the printout on the table. “Anonymous letter.” I said. "How do you know it's me?" "You're the only one in the company who doesn't drink that type of coffee, so why bother guessing?" I didn't deny it. "The content is true. There are colleagues who showed unpleasant symptoms after drinking. I think the company has a responsibility to care." Luu Phuong sighed. "Tieu Khuong, I understand your mood. About the bonus points before, you feel that people treated you unfairly, I can also sympathize." "But you can't cause trouble because of this. "Phuong Di's coffee beans, her boyfriend does a proper import business, with complete procedures." "What if your letter gets out, people sue you for defamation?" "Furthermore..." She lowered her voice. "Phuong Di's boyfriend's company cooperates with an important customer of ours. Don't ruin the company's business because of personal resentment." I understand.