Chapter 9 — From the Day No Longer Belongs to You

“There's one more thing.”

“I want to hear your own opinion.”

“Recently, Luc Chieu is competing for the position of deputy general director.”

“In your opinion... how is he?”

That question came so suddenly. I looked straight into Hua Tranh Vien's eyes. Right in that moment... I understood the true purpose of this meeting. He doesn't just want to resolve the arbitration case. He is evaluating Luc Chieu. There is only one position of deputy general director. To make the final decision, he needed to know Luc Chieu's true personality. And the person who understands him best... It's me.

“General Manager Hua.”

I slowly spoke up.

“This is your company's internal matter, I am not at liberty to comment.”

“But there is one thing I can say.”

“The day he fired me, Luc Chieu let On Y, an employee who had only worked for less than a month, stand right in front of me serving him coffee.”

“I just want to ask you a question.”

“A manager brings personal relationships into personnel decisions...”

“Do you think that person is capable of taking on a higher position?”

Hua Tranh Vien did not answer. But his hand holding the cup of tea paused for a moment. I stood up.

“Please allow General Director Hua permission.”

Leaving the Thinh Hang building, the sunlight outside was so bright that it was blinding. The phone suddenly vibrated. It's a message from Luc Chieu. Still a new phone number.

“I heard you just met General Manager Hua?”

“Are you going to talk bad about me behind my back?”

“Ha Quan Ninh, don't be too harsh.”

I laughed. Then take a screenshot of the conversation and immediately send it to Tan Van. Attached is a message.

“There is yet another evidence of harassment.”

The arbitration session took place as scheduled. Thinh Hang side sent two people from the legal department to attend. Different from last time, their attitude was much softer. During the work process, there were almost no arguments. They also basically accepted the conclusion that the company had unilaterally terminated the labor contract illegally. The compensation was only forty-six thousand. Not a very large number. But the important thing... Is that it's all clearly stated in writing. Thinh Hang himself admitted that he was wrong. After the referee session ended, Tan Van gave me a bottle of water.

“What are you going to do next?”

“Continue to develop the studio?”

I nodded.

“Next week the Cam Life project will officially launch, it will probably be very busy.”

Tan Van looked at me for a moment then burst out laughing.

“You're so different now than before.”

"When I was with Luc Chieu, every day you looked gloomy and lifeless."

I just smiled. No response. Returning to the studio, the whole team began preparing documents for the Cam Life project. My project manager's name is Phuong Nhien. She is an extremely trustworthy person. Previously, I worked at a 4A company for three years, then quit because of constant overtime. During that recruitment, I only interviewed her for exactly twenty minutes before deciding to accept her.

“General Manager Ha.”

Phuong Nhien stepped forward.

“Cam Life has new ideas about the brand identity system.”

“The Department's General Director hopes to add another round of user surveys.”

I nodded.

“Separate budget.”

“I will prepare a survey plan and give it to you today.”

Studio gradually entered a stable orbit. Half a month later. The first phase of the main Cam Life brand upgrade project completed formula. New identification system. New brand slogan. All were put into use at the same time. The effect exceeded expectations. In just the first week after launch, the number of new users signing up for the app increased forty percent compared to the same period last month. So Lieu even posted an article on his friends circle to thank the cooperation team. In it, he specifically mentioned the name of my studio. That post quickly spread in the world. New customers also proactively came to visit. A local gym chain. A startup company about the community purchasing model. And a new milk tea brand. The studio grew from five people to eight people. The office also moved out of the shared working space and rented an independent office floor of one hundred and twenty square meters. Everything is progressing in a good direction. But Luc Chieu's side... It went downhill faster than I thought. The first is Tieu Chau's WeChat message.

“Miss Ha, Director Luc was not appointed as Deputy General Director.”

“I heard that General Director Hua himself directly denied it.”

Right after that, Trieu Khai also called me.

“On Y has been fired.”

"After General Director Hua sent someone to investigate, they discovered that On Y had faked his job application."