Chapter 1 — I Hide Eight Languages For Three Years

I finished typing a new CV on the computer. Name: Luc Vy Education: Bachelor, major in English Skills: English, fluent Just one line like that. My fingers stopped on the keyboard for a long time. Thinking and thinking about it, in the end I still didn't add anything.

“Luc Vy, are you sure you only write in English?” Phuong Niem, a college friend who was helping me edit my CV, frowned, "I remember you're very good at learning languages, wouldn't writing a few more things make you more competitive?"

"No need." I saved the file and said calmly, "English is enough."

Phuong Niem didn't understand, but didn't ask further. She didn't know that, half a year ago, I had just left a company in city N. I only worked at that job for half a year, but it felt like I had lived half my life. The day I started work, my boss looked at my CV and his eyes lit up:

"Learn languages? That's great, the company needs exactly the same type of talent as you!"

At that time, I thought I had found an ideal job. As a result, in the first week, I was called to an emergency meeting. The customer was a foreigner and the company's translator suddenly asked for sick leave, causing chaos in the room.

“Tieu Luc knows foreign languages, let her come up!”

I was pushed in front of the conference table. Three hours passed, my throat was hoarse, my wrists were so tired that I could barely lift them. The meeting ended, the customer was very satisfied, and signed the contract on the spot. I thought I would be recognized. But the next day, the company's notice board posted a certificate of merit:

“Congratulations to sales manager Wang Lei for successfully signing a large contract, with a commission of 60,000 yuan.”

Vuong Loi - the person sitting next to me in the meeting that day, could barely say a few words. I went to the human resources department.

“This application is clearly me—”

"Tieu Luc," the human resources manager interrupted, smiling coldly, "You're an assistant, you can do your job well. Manager Vuong is in charge of business, and the commission naturally belongs to him."

At that moment, I understood. In the eyes of the company, I am not a talent. Just a tool. A few months later, I became the company's "fire team". Wherever translation is needed, call me there. Working late into the night is normal, and attending guests on weekends is an obligation. Then I got sick. Lying in the hospital bed, I heard people talking in the hallway.

"What's the use of Ms. Luc knowing many foreign languages? The monthly salary is still only seven thousand."

“That's right, the company treats her as a free translator, no matter what, she doesn't dare take time off.”

"Last time I heard about the big project, I was going to give her some bonus money, but then Manager Vuong took all the credit, so there was no more part for her."

I stared at the ceiling, tears falling silently. After being discharged from the hospital, I applied for leave. From that day, I vowed to never write all my abilities on my CV again. So, three years ago when I went to city C for an interview, my CV was so clean that it was blank, only in English.

“You only know English?” the interviewer asked.

"Yes." I answered without hesitation.

“Okay, we are in need of an English business assistant.”

And so, I went to work. Monthly salary is twelve thousand yuan, working from nine in the morning to six in the afternoon, no one sees me as a translation machine. Finally, I can live a normal life. The first three months after starting work, I came carefully almost holding your breath. Every time I process an English email, I deliberately slow down, sometimes even pretending to look up the dictionary. When colleagues ask about grammar, I always answer: "I'm not sure, you should try looking it up online to see how people use it." I turned myself into a very ordinary English major, useful enough, but absolutely not outstanding. But there are things you can't control if you want to. In the fourth month, the company received an order request from a customer in country D. The other party sent an email, the sales department used translation software to process it and then responded in English. The next day, the customer responded, his tone full of annoyance.

"You misunderstand us. We didn't ask for that."

Department head Tran Lam was so frantic that he walked around the office.

“This guest is very important and cannot be damaged.”

She forwarded the email to me.

“Tieu Luc, your English is good, please write another version.”

I received the email and glanced at it. The guest's original content has clearly been machine-translated into English. There are many odd places and obvious mechanical traces. I thought a bit, didn't edit every word, but rewrote the entire thing in a clearer, more commercial communication standard. The email was sent and Tran Lam skimmed it: "It's written well, let's try it." The next day, the customer responded. The tone softened completely.

“Thank you for your patience, we are ready to continue communication.”

Tran Lam was surprised: "Tieu Luc, your English is really good, the customer is satisfied." I just smiled lightly: "Maybe it's just luck." Actually I know it well. Those strange English sentences are traces of another language being translated. I followed those deviations, guessing the other person's true intentions. But I can't say. Such things happened quite a few times in three years. There was a time when the company had a dispute with a water supplier F, and the two sides went back and forth in emails. The sales department printed out all the letters and gathered to discuss in the room. I passed by and took a quick glance. The email has been machine-translated, and in many places it is so rigid that the meaning is completely distorted.

"Manager Tran," I hesitated for a moment before still speaking, "how about adjusting the payment method? I feel like the other party doesn't want to cancel the contract, but is having cash flow problems."

Tran Lam frowned: "What do you see?"

"It's just... a feeling. The tone in the email doesn't sound like one wanting to make a big deal out of it."

She was skeptical, but still tried my suggestion. As a result, the other side immediately changed their attitude and the problem was resolved. Tran Lam's eyes looked at me somewhat complicated: "Your intuition is correct." I bowed my head: "Maybe it's luck." For the past three years, I've always been the same. Relying on "intuition", relying on "luck", helps the company avoid many pitfalls. All my colleagues said I had a red number.

“Tieu Luc is truly talented, always guessing correctly.”

“That's right, she also warned me about the last J country guest incident.”

“She must have done a lot of research and read a lot of documents.”

I never explained. It's just that every time I see documents damaged by machine translation, my heart aches a little. But I can't stand up. Just admit you know more, and the nightmare in City N will repeat itself. I'd rather play dumb. Last summer, the company negotiated project with a customer in country J. The other party uses translation software to communicate. I sat in the office, listening to the recording of the meeting, my heart tightening with each beat. The customer clearly said “hoping to adjust the delivery time”, but the software translated it as “must deliver immediately”. The more both sides talked, the more tense it became. Ultimately, the project collapsed. The customer sent an email: "Your company's professionalism made us suspicious, so we decided to end cooperation." Tran Lam was so angry that he threw the entire set of documents down on the table: "How did it turn out like this? It was obvious that he was about to sign!" I sat in my seat, biting my lip. I could have completely avoided it all. But I can't say. The turning point happened three months ago.