Chapter 5 — From Noodles to Glory

“Yes. Didn't I tell you to dress nicer?” “Pretty good.” He nodded, his eyes lingering on me for another two seconds. "Next Wednesday at the kick-off ceremony, you'll come with me. Dress a bit formally, I'll send you money to buy clothes." "No need, I have it." He didn't ask any more. Wednesday next week. Five days left. During these five days, I completed several things. First, Dao Vi helped me make an appointment with Truong Loi. The location is in the hotel lobby on the opening day of the ceremony, one hour before the ceremony. Second, I organized all the evidence that Chu Han stole my work — login history, download history, project comparison photos, original file creation time, and watermark information — into one complete document. Third, I contacted a lawyer friend. Not to sue. It's to confirm, if I go the legal route, how much chance I have of winning. The answer is: ten parts. Because in all the original files of my work, invisible digital watermarks are embedded. This is a habit I have kept since graduate school. The Luong Uyen designs used in the plan, once inspected, the watermark will appear. On it were written two words: Niem Bach. The lawyer said that this behavior constitutes copyright infringement. If the other party uses it to gain profit and cause economic loss to the original author, it may also be related to commercial fraud. I locked the document in an encrypted folder on my computer. No rush. Five days later, everyone will know. Wednesday. The launching ceremony was held at the Marriott hotel in the city center. I wore newly bought clothes - a black vest dress that hugged my body, not ostentatious but with enough charisma. Paired with a pair of nude pointed heels, hair pulled to one side, revealing small pearl earrings. When Chu Han saw me walking out of the bedroom, there was some surprise in his eyes. "Not bad. Let's keep it like that today." His voice assessed me as if he were checking whether an item met standards or not. I don't compare. Arriving at the hotel, the autograph signing area was full of people. Chu Han led me through the crowd to say hello. "This is my wife, To Niem." "Hello sister-in-law." "Mr. Chu is very lucky." Everyone smiled and exchanged pleasantries. I also smiled and coordinated properly. Luong Uyen was also there. Today she wore a long champagne-colored dress, curly hair hanging down her shoulders, and even more makeup than that day at my house. Seeing me, her smile paused for a moment, then immediately returned to normal. "Sister-in-law, long time no see." "Yes." Just one word. Her smile was a bit unbearable. "Your sister-in-law is so beautiful today." "Thank you." Chu Han interrupted, patting my shoulder. "Sit here for a moment, I'll go up to the front to greet the leader." "Okay." He's gone. Luong Uyen hesitated a bit and followed. I look at the time. There are forty minutes left until the appointment time to meet Truong Loi. I took my phone out of my bag and sent Dao Vi a message. "I'm here." "Truong Loi is also here, waiting for you at the lobby bar." "Okay." I stood up, walked through the crowd, toward the hotel lobby. In the corner of the lobby bar, a man in his forties was drinking coffee. The suit is smooth and the hair is combed without a strand out of place. Brand Director of Tri Vien Group, Truong Loi. Seeing me coming, he stood up. "Hello, may I ask if you are..." "General Manager Truong." I held out my hand. “I am Niem Bach.” Truong Loi was stunned. His eyes stayed on my face for three seconds, as if confirming something. "Are you... the general manager of Niem Bach factory?" "Yes." "I've always worked through your contact person, I didn't expect you to be so young." He held my hand and smiled. “Admired for a long time.” “General Manager Truong is being polite.” We sat down. “This time I asked you to meet, there is actually something I want to confirm with you directly.” I get straight to the point. “Miss

Just say it." "Tri Vien's bidding plan for the 'Northern Lights' project, the visual design part, have you seen it yet?" "Of course you have seen it." Truong Loi nodded. “Honestly, the reason we chose this supplier is because their design solutions are extremely excellent. My level is almost equal to Niem Bach. During the appraisal, I especially mentioned this point." "Almost equal to Niem Bach." I repeated those words. “That's right. To be honest, the style of that plan is identical to the two brand upgrade kits she once did for us. At that time, I was thinking, is this company digging your people? Without my permission, it was downloaded, edited and used by someone else in the bidding plan." "In here is my original file creation history, the other party's download history, and... digital watermark embedded in each image." I pointed to the USB. "You can let the technical department verify." Truong Loi's expression turned from confused to serious. He put down the coffee cup and looked at the other USB.