Chapter 12 — From Noodles to Glory

He sat in the middle row behind the conference table, next to his boss, a bald man in his fifties. Both of them lowered their heads to look at their phones, not paying attention to the movement at the door. Truong Loi stepped up to the podium and lightly tapped the microphone. "Ladies and gentlemen, let's get started. Today I invited everyone here mainly to officially introduce the new visual collaboration partner of the 'Northern Lights' project..." "The leading design brand in the industry, Niem Bach workshop." "Please welcome the owner of Niem Bach workshop..." He turned towards me, holding out his hand. "Miss To Niem." The entire hall was silent for a second. After that, all eyes focused on me. I walked onto the stage. The sound of high heels stepping on the floor sounded clear and steady. I stood in front of the microphone, my eyes scanning the entire field. Saw many unfamiliar faces. Also saw that familiar face that was completely stiff at this moment. Chu Han's phone slipped from his hand, fell onto the table, and made a "snap" sound. His mouth was slightly open. Eyes staring at me on stage. Expression like seeing a ghost. I smiled slightly at the microphone. "Hello everyone, I'm To Niem. I'm happy to be the owner of Niem Bach factory and officially cooperate with Tri Vien Group." The whole hall was silent for three seconds. Then applause rang out. Not enthusiastically, but politely. These people don't know me, they only know the two words "Niem Bach". But there is someone who knows me. At this time he was sitting in a chair, his face turned from white to blue, from blue to gray, his whole body seemed to be nailed to the chair, unable to move. The bald boss next to him also reacted. He tilted his head to look at Chu Han, then looked at me on stage, his expression was very magical. I don't look at them any more. I turned around, opened PPT, and began the fifteen-minute design concept sharing session. From brand tone analysis, to visual system building logic, to actual case presentation. Every page I turned, I could feel the hot gaze from one direction under the stage. In my PPT there are three case histories. The first case is the brand upgrading project of Tri Vien Group three years ago. That was the first collaboration between me and Truong Loi. The second case is to reconstruct the visual system of Thuy Trach real estate. A typical case in the industry, everyone in the world knows it. Third case... When I turned to this page, I deliberately stopped for two seconds. This page shows the original versions of nine design panels that were stolen from my archive. The creation date, watermark, and version number are all clearly listed in the lower left corner of the screen. I don't take attendance. Not just by name. But those present, with just a little bit of brainstorming, could connect these dates with the previous copyright infringement documents. "This is a representative piece of work created by Niem Bach workshop in the past five years." My voice did not waver at all. "Each work from concept to implementation, on average, takes three to four months. Each work is embedded with the workshop's exclusive digital signature. This is a habit I have kept since graduate school." "Because I believe that good design is worth it. worthy of protection.” After saying that, the stage was quiet for a moment. After that, Truong Loi was the first to applaud. The sound of applause connected into one piece. I nodded slightly to the audience and walked down the stage. When I passed Chu Han's line, I didn't look at him. But I heard a very faint sound. It's his breath. Very urgent, very shallow, like a fish about to drown. The kick-off meeting continues. The following part of the process is to compare the details of cooperation, and has nothing to do with me. I sit in the auditorium. Dao Vi sat next to me, typing a line on the phone for me to see. “Chu Han seems to be

about to faint. His boss was talking to him." I glanced over. Sure enough. The bald boss leaned over, his mouth speaking very quickly in Chu Han's ear. Chu Han bowed his head, one hand resting on his forehead, constantly nodding. Like being scolded. Like collapsing. After the meeting ended, it was tea break. I held a cup of coffee and stood in front of the ground-level window, Truong Loi walked over. "Miss To, today's sharing was excellent. Tri Vien's side fully looks forward to future cooperation." "Thank you, General Manager Truong." "Ah yes..." He lowered his voice. "Just now Chu Han's boss came looking for me. Ask if it's possible to keep their company's other implementation items in the project." "What do you say?" "I said, the visual implementation part will all be transferred to Niem Bach, the other projects will see their situation of adjustment and then decide." "Reasonable." "Miss To..." Truong Loi looked at me. "The relationship between you and Chu Han..." "Ex-husband." I said. “Very soon it will be my ex-husband.” Truong Loi was stunned, then nodded. “Understood. So it's work." "Yeah. Work out work." Near the end of the tea break, Chu Han appeared in front of me. His eye sockets were red. His tie was pulled loose, his shirt collar was also tangled. "To Niem." His voice was as hoarse as rubbing sandpaper. “Yes?” “You... why didn't you tell me?”