Chapter 9 — Coffee Pairing Queen

"In the whole of mainland China, there are only a few companies qualified to sell Esmeralda seeds. There is no 'Zhen Tuyen Trade' on the list." "Can I ask him to come over this afternoon?" "To your company?" "Yes." Co Nhien laughed. "Khuong Ninh, what are you planning to do?" "Not a game plan." "I just want to let the truth speak." "Okay. I will call him. If he can come, I will go too." Finally.” Hanging up, I looked at the time. 12 hours 45 minutes. One hour and fifteen minutes left. I took something out of the drawer. A green card. On the front is printed a small text: CQI Q-Grader Certificate. Certificate code, validity period, my English name. I took it three years ago. Coffee quality assessment expert certificate is valued globally. I put it in my pocket. Not to brag. But when necessary, it makes some people shut up. One fifty minutes in the afternoon. More than thirty people in the entire office loudly walked towards the meeting room. Phuong Di stood at the door, smiling sweetly to welcome each person. Tran Ban stood next to the projector, the presentation was ready. The first page read... "Tran Tuyen Trade - Association explaining the quality of specialty coffee beans" I was the last person to enter. Seeing me, Phuong Di raised her chin. "Oh, Ms. Ninh is here. I thought you wouldn't dare come." I said nothing and sat down in the last row. Tran Ban started presenting. The presentation is very finely crafted. Photo of the farm, scanned copy of the customs declaration, color printout of the quarantine inspection certificate, quality inspection report meeting standards. "Everyone, look, this is our import customs declaration, complete with date, name of goods and quantity." "This is the original copy of the certificate of satisfaction of quarantine inspection requirements, with the CIQ mark." "This is the quality inspection report because we sent the sample ourselves for testing. All indicators meet the standards." "Aflatoxin criteria." This..." He enlarged a photo of a report. "Three point two micrograms per kilogram. Much lower than the limit of five micrograms of the national standard." "What do some people say that exceeds the standard by four times? It's a complete fabrication." He turned off the presentation and looked around the room. "I don't know what kind of person would want to take revenge on a colleague and not hesitate to falsify an inspection report to harm others." "But I believe everyone's eyes are clear." "All the records are here. Anyone who wants to verify can see the original.” On the table behind him there was indeed a stack of folders. Applause rang out. Mr. Trieu was the first to clap his hands. "This should have been done a long time ago! You guys have nothing left to say!" "That's right, a regular company can't be easily overthrown by bad people." Phuong Di looked around, her eyes locked tightly on me. "Sister Ninh, do you have anything else to say?" Everyone looked at me. I stood up. "The HS code on your customs declaration..." "090121000, right?" Tran Ban nodded. "This code is unroasted, decaffeinated coffee. That means green beans." "But what you give people to drink are roasted beans." "If you import green beans, where are the ripe beans roasted? If roasted domestically, does the roasting factory have a food production license?" Tran Ban's expression suddenly changed. "It's... because of the house." Cooperative roaster." "Which factory? What's the name and address?" "This... is our business secret." "Okay. So the second question." "This quality inspection report of yours..." I picked up the printed piece of paper from the chair. "The inspection organization written on it is 'Hua Dinh Inspection Engineering Co., Ltd.'. CMA code 2023180XX." "I looked up this code this afternoon on the website of the National Commission for Certification and Accreditation.”“Found it. But the scope of the organization's capabilities

This is... testing of construction materials and the environment. Does not include food." "In other words, even if this report is true, this organization does not have the qualifications to inspect food." "This report is just a piece of paper." Someone in the meeting room sucked in a cold breath. Tran Ban tightened his grip on the page-turning pen in his hand. "You... you looked it up wrong." "Not wrong." I opened the screenshot in my phone. “Official website of the National Commission for Certification and Accreditation, public information. Anyone who has a phone can check it out right now." Mr. Trieu instinctively took out his phone. Phuong Di's face turned pale. At this moment... The meeting room door was pushed open. Two people walked in. One was Co Nhien. The other was a man in his forties. PART 15 Co Nhien looked at me and nodded slightly. The man next to him glanced at the meeting room, his eyes landing on the stack of documents and the opened bag of coffee on the table. Clearly Phuong Di did not know them. This person. “Who are you? This is an internal meeting of the company, outsiders are not allowed in." The man in his forties did not pay attention to her. He went straight to the table, picked up the bag of coffee, poured a few beans into the palm of his hand. He brought it up to his nose and sniffed. He crushed a bean again, looking at the cut face. Then he turned to Tran Ban.