Chapter 10 — Husband Takes Little Tam to Party, Big Screen Shows My 31 Million Yuan Project

"To To, today I just came here to say a few words to you." He held a cup of tea, his tone as if he were talking about housework, "I heard about the story a few days ago. You're really good, the big project is 31 million yuan, it's truly remarkable, admirable."

I sat there quietly, not responding.

"But..." He put down the teacup, "You already know, you and Chu Yen have been married for seven years, there are some things, logically speaking..."

I interrupted him. He stopped.

"If you want to say something, just say it directly."

The smile on Chu Mau Thinh's face slightly retracted, he turned to look at "lawyer" Phuong.

"Lawyer" Phuong cleared his throat and spoke: "Miss Nguyen, the story is this. You and Mr. Chu Yen are in a legal marital relationship, the income generated during the marriage..."

"I know the law of marriage."

"Lawyer" Phuong paused.

"The contract signing date is within the marriage period, so in theory, this income belongs to..."

"Belong to what?" I looked at him.

"Common property of husband and wife."

I laughed.

"Mr. Phuong, your way of speaking has three problems."

"Lawyer" Phuong's face changed.

"First, the intellectual property rights to technical achievements and the division of marital assets are two completely different things. The intellectual property rights of this plan are registered under my personal name, three years ago the recording procedure was completed."

"Second, the contract I signed with Due Hang Technology Group is a contract to transfer technology use rights, not labor compensation. Legally, transfer fees are income from intellectual property rights transactions, belonging to the owner of that right."

"Third..." I looked at Chu Mau Thinh, "You should ask Chu Yen himself to come talk to me, instead of finding someone to come here and read the law."

The living room was silent for three seconds. Chu's mother's face turned red.

"What's with your attitude! Uncle has the kindness to help you two reconcile..."

"Reconciliation for whom?" I stood up.

"Mom." I said, "Do you want to help me, or do you want to help your son get my money?"

That statement was like a basin of cold water thrown straight into the living room. The smile on Chu Mau Thinh's face completely disappeared. That afternoon, after Chu Mau Thinh and "lawyer" Phuong left, Chu's mother sat in the living room and scolded me for an hour. From "ungrateful thing" to "eating porridge and kicking bowls", from "my son is really blind" to "what do you think you are". I stood at the kitchen door listening for five minutes, then took my bag and left the house. Not running away. But because I have something more important to do. I went to meet a trustworthy lawyer introduced by Dao Vy, lawyer Luu, currently in charge of the marriage and family section at a fairly large law office in the city. She was a woman in her forties, with an agile and decisive style. After listening to me tell her about the situation, her expression didn't change at all.

"I need to confirm a few matters." She opened her notebook, "When is the time to register intellectual property rights of technical achievements?"

"Three years ago."

"Is there a registration certificate?"

"Was this achievement created before or after marriage?"

"After marriage. But it is completely the result of personal intellectual labor, do not use any common assets during the marriage period for investment."

"Okay. Confirm one more time, I'm determined planning to divorce?"

"What's the other person's attitude?"

"I haven't officially mentioned it yet. But his family has begun to probe, and today even sent a 'lawyer' to talk to me about common property."

Lawyer Luu laughed.

"This way of doing things is enough to prove that they are guilty. If you really think the law is on your side, they don't need to come first to 'threaten' you."

I nodded.

"Then I will help you prepare the documents. Certificate of intellectual property registration, documents recording the process of developing the plan, do you keep the originals?"

"Yes. All versions are saved on the computer, including timestamps."

"Very good. She also took a bank statement, which she used to prove that during the process of developing the plan, she did not use common family money for investment."

"There's one more thing." Lawyer Luu put down his pen and looked at me, "The 600,000 yuan debt you previously paid on behalf of your husband's family, do you have a transfer history?"

"Yes. It's complete."

"Is that money your pre-marital or post-marital property?"

"It's the money I saved before getting married plus the amount I borrowed from you."

"Where is the loan note?"

I stopped.

"I didn't write at that time..."

"Is your uncle still there? Do you agree to testify?"

"Still... I'll try asking."

"The sooner the better." Lawyer Luu closed the book, "In addition, the photo you just mentioned, the photo of your husband and that woman, is the source reliable?"

"Neighbors took pictures, with timestamps."

"Okay. If the divorce is carried out through litigation, these things all work."

When I walked out of the law office, it was already dark. There were six missed calls on the phone, three from Chu's mother, two from Chu Yen and one from an unknown number. I called Chu Yen back first.

"Where are you?" His voice had an added impatience that wasn't there a few days ago.

"Outside. I'll be back soon."

"When will you come back? We talk."

"Let's go home and talk."

I hung up. While standing on the side of the road calling for a ride, I looked at that strange phone number once again. Prefix 010. From Beijing. I'm too lazy to call back. Probably just an advertising call. I called a car to go home.