Chapter 8 — Dear Wife, Do You Remember Me?

“She borrowed my personnel file and got my home address.”

The other side was silent for two minutes. Then the phone called.

“What did you say? She took my records?”

“Yes.”

“Is there anything else?”

“Today she called and called the person on the other end 'Aunt', not 'Mom'.”

“Combined with what you said, it's probably reporting the situation to your mother.”

The breathing on the other end of the line became heavy.

“To Niem.”

“Yes.”

"I'm sorry. I didn't handle this matter decisively, causing you to get dragged into it."

“I don't need to hear an apology.”

“I need you to do something.”

“You say it.”

“Recheck Phuong Tinh's personnel approval process.”

“See who signed off.”

“What are you doubting?”

"I suspect she joined this company, from beginning to end, not to work."

“She came here to keep an eye on you. By the way, she can also monitor me.”

The other end of the line was silent for a few seconds.

“I'll check right away tomorrow.”

“Okay.”

“To Niem.”

“Hmm?”

“Thank you for telling me these things.”

I hung up the phone. Standing at the apartment gate. Raise your head and look at the sky. There is not a single star. The streetlights stretched my shadow across the ground. The phone vibrated again. Phuong Tinh's WeChat has just been updated. A photo. It's the sofa in Chu Dien's office. Attached status line: "He drank soup today." Posting time is one o'clock in the afternoon. But clearly when Phuong Tinh returned in the afternoon, he had a troubled look on his face. Have you finally drank the soup or not? In the end, she was acting for someone to see. 09 Early the next morning, Chu Dien sent me a text message.

“Looked it up.”

“The reviewer is Uncle Trieu on the board of directors.”

“My mother looked for him.”

“Phuong Tinh's position is a special position, not through the normal recruitment process.”

“In other words, the chair she was sitting in was not based on ability in the first place.”

I texted back: “As expected.”

“Can you come up here for a moment this afternoon? Floor twenty-three.”

“Do what?”

“There's something for you to see.”

Twelve minutes past noon. I went to the twenty-third floor. Phuong Tinh was not there. Today she asked for half a day off, using the excuse that her body was not feeling well. Chu Dien's room door is open. I walked in and he pushed a stack of papers over.

“Let's see.”

I turned it over. This is Phuong Tinh's access card swipe history and internal system access log for the past three weeks. She used her employee code to look up the records of five people. I'm the first. The remaining four people are all colleagues in the Administration department.

“Why is she looking up other people's records?”

“I also want to know.”

I continued reading down. There was a line of access history that caught my attention. Last Thursday night, at eight o'clock, she logged onto the company intranet. She got off work that day at half past five.

“She logged in remotely using her phone.” Chu Dien pointed to that note.

“Look up what?”

“My KPI assessment table. And also the approval progress for my official employees.”

I closed the document.

“Chu Dien.”

“Yes.”

“I vaguely guessed what she wanted to do.”

“You say it.”

“Next week, my probation period expires and I'm about to sign an official contract.”

“She looked up the KPI table and approval progress, either because she wanted to get in my way or because she wanted to get involved in it.”

“She's good If you behave obediently in front of your mother, your mother will find her trustworthy.”

“If she can oust me, your mother will be even more pleased.”

"Just like that, without me by your side, your mother keeps pushing Phuong Tinh in. Over time, you won't be able to stand."

Chu Dien's face darkened.

“She won't achieve her goal.”

“I know. But you have to let her rear her head, you can't attack directly.”

“Why?”

“If you chase her away directly, your mother will see that you have lost all love and gratitude.”