Chapter 2 — Leave To Be Called By Your Own Name

The entire jury was silent. Co Nghien Bach also looked at me without blinking. Then he chased me to the stairs.

"Classmate, what's your name?"

"Tong Duong."

"Do you want to join our group?"

"If I don't have a salary, I won't go."

He stopped. Then burst out laughing.

"Not much though."

So I followed him. Year of graduation. I rejected job offers from two big brands. According to him, crowded into a small office in the East of the city, there was not even a heating system. He is in charge of meeting customers. And I'm in charge of design. Follow the factory closely. Adjusting the supply chain. The first batch had a problem. Sleeves are half an inch shorter than standard. The customer requested a full refund. Co Nghien Bach squatted in front of the warehouse until midnight. Don't say a word. I took scissors and cut out the sample set. Redo the entire pattern. Three days later. Return rate from 42% reduced to 6%. He held the report card and ran to find me.

"Tong Duong."

"When the company makes money, I will give you shares."

"How much?"

"How much do you want?"

"I said it, don't feel bad."

He laughed.

"I want your life too."

I believed. Second year. The company received its first investment. He pushed me out of the camera frame.

"I don't like socializing."

"It's more comfortable standing in the back."

I also believe. By fifth year. The company's valuation has exceeded 1,000,000,000 yuan. At the year-end party. He held Giang Van's hand and introduced her as half the soul of the brand. Applause echoed loudly in the stands. And I sat quietly in a corner. Watch the best-selling collections continuously appear on the screen. The original design of each dress... All drawn by my own hand. Every time I edit my waist line... It's all my effort. Giang Van stepped onto the stage to speak.

"I always believe that..."

"True beauty is defined by a woman herself."

Listen to that. I almost burst out laughing. What did she define for herself? She defined the position of her fiancee next to Co Nghien Bach as hers. The definition is that I must forever stand in the dark. Also defines that... A newly graduated designer like Hua Lam can skip all the processes, take my design on the catwalk to launch the collection. Hua Lam's first day at the company. Giang Van herself led him in. Twenty-three years old. Smile and look very good. He said:

"Miss Duong, I've seen your previous works."

"Truly excellent."

I nodded.

"Where's the plan?"

He gave me the design. A copy of an old foreign model. One version has messy lines. In the final version, even the basic proportions are wrong. I returned it all. His eye sockets immediately turned red. Right at that moment. Giang Van walked in.

"Tong Duong."

"Can't you be a little more friendly to new people?"

I calmly replied:

"The plan failed."

Hua Lam lowered his voice.

"I just want to try a more youthful style."

I looked at him.

"Young."

"It doesn't mean drawing haphazardly."

The whole office immediately fell silent. Giang Van picked up the design and read a few pages.

"I feel very good."

I looked at her.

"If it's okay with you."

"Then let him sign independently."

"Tong Duong."

Giang Van lowered her voice.

"Don't make Nghien Bach feel awkward."

Not long after. Hua Lam became the main designer of the collection new episode. Disappeared from the project list. Come today. The transfer notice appeared. The taxi stopped in front of the law office building. Just got off the bus. My phone rang. Co Nghien Bach called. I hung up. Second call. Continue to hang up. On to the third call. It's Giang Van. I switched to silent mode. As soon as the receptionist saw me, he immediately stood up.

"Miss Tong, lawyer Qin is waiting for you inside."

I nodded slightly. The reception room door opened. Tan Nghien pushed a cup of warm water in front of me.

"All done?"

"Done."

I put the file bag on the table.

"This is a notice of cancellation of the shareholding agreement."

Tan Nghien opened the file.

"Has Co Nghien Bach signed the original agreement?"

I took out the second folder.

"This is the design draft of the seventeen key models."

"Electronic Original."

"Documents made in Arabic."

"Email exchange with the factory."

"Same entire timeline."

Tan Nghien flipped through each page.

"Very complete."

"And this."

I pushed a black hard drive in front of him.

"Giang Van and Hua Lam renamed three of my old designs."

"They were going to put them in the spring collection launch."

"In here is a recording of their meeting."

"With full email forwarding history."

Tan Nghien raised his head and looked at me.

"When did you start preparing?"

"The third day after Hua Lam joined the company."

He laughed.

"At that time, did you know this day would come?"

I shook my head.

"I don't know if this day will come or not."

"But I know..."

"He doesn't keep evidence to himself."

"In the end, it can only become a stepping stone for others."

Tan Nghien put all the documents away.

"What are you going to do next?"

"First send a letter to the lawyer."

"To whom?"

"Co Nghien Bach."

"Jiang Van."

"Product launch partner."

"Representation of investors."

Tan Nghien looked at me.

"This time..."

"The movement will not be small."

I took a sip of water.

"They dared to put my employee number on the door of the tea room."

"Their movements are not small."

Tan Nghien nodded.

"I get it."

"One more thing."

I took out a set of business registration documents from my bag.

"I want to start a new company."

Tan Nghien turned to the page with the company name.

"Sister Duong Design?"

"'Sho' means starting from the beginning?"

I shook my head.

"Not starting over."

"I should have stood in front of my own name a long time ago."

I returned to the small apartment I had just rented. The apartment is not big. One bedroom. An office room. I placed the cardboard box on the table. Take out the only thing I brought. An old sketchbook. The cover of the book is faded. First page. It's the handwriting Co Nghien Bach wrote five years ago.

"Tong Duong."

"In the future we will build our own brand together."