Chapter 10 — Leaving You, I Shine

“First, collect a consulting fee of 5,000 yuan. If we enter the litigation stage, we will discuss it later.”

“Okay.”

The response letter was sent on behalf of Lawyer Le. Professional and concise words: The agreement is legal and valid, both parties voluntarily sign it, there are no items that need to be negotiated. If we intentionally initiate litigation, we will comply with the applicable law. The same afternoon as sending the letter, Co Hanh's WeChat arrived. This time it's not a command line, but a complete sentence:

"Lam Chieu, it's not the money I want to ask for. I just want to see you."

I looked at this text, my finger stopped on the screen, my thumb hung over the keyboard. Ten seconds. Twenty seconds. I turned off the chat box. Phuong Du's phone called again: "Is he contacting you again?"

“Yes. Said he wanted to see me.”

“What do you answer?”

“No answer.”

"Yes, let him be. He deserves it. Six years of treating you like air, after divorce, you'll know what to do - it's too late."

I said yes and hung up the phone. Outside the window it was dark, the street lamps turned on one by one, the pot of snake tongues stood quietly on the window sill, the tips of the leaves reflecting the warm yellow light. I cooked myself a bowl of noodles, sat in front of the small dining table and slowly ate. Just quiet alone. No need to wait for anyone's text, no need to rush to follow anyone's schedule. Halfway through the noodles, I suddenly felt – This is my life.

—

Another week passed, and things started to become unusual. It started from a client of mine working outside the home - the Marketing Director of the F&B chain "Hoa Duyet". When the brand repositioning plan reached phase two, that party suddenly made an appointment with me to talk directly.

"Director Lam, there's something I need to tell you about." His expression was a bit awkward.

“You say it.”

“The superiors just announced that they will temporarily no longer cooperate with outside consultants and must prioritize internal resources.”

“The contract has already been signed.”

"I know, we will pay the compensation for breach of contract in full. But this is not my decision, it is the owner's will."

“Mistress?”

He hesitated a bit, lowered his voice: "Our landlady has a very good relationship with Co Thi Real Estate. Last week, I went to play golf and when I came home, she told me to withdraw the outsourcing project." My fingers lightly tapped the table top twice.

“I understand.”

"Director Lam, I'm really sorry. Your plan worked very well, it was due to a problem from our side."

"It's okay, compensation is fine according to the contract."

Out of Hoa Duyet's building, I stood on the side of the road waving at the car, piecing together everything in my head. Co Hanh, through his mother's social relationships, put pressure on my clients, causing them to end their cooperation. The meal that Tham Van invited me last time was, on the surface, an advice to reunite, but in reality it was a survey - a review of my new job, my new life, my new customers. And then they started taking action. Not forcing me to go back, but wanting me to not be able to roll around outside. I held the phone tightly for half a minute, then opened Co Hanh's chat box. For the first time in six years, I proactively texted him:

“Co Hanh, what happened to Hoa Duyet was your doing?”

Three minutes later he replied:

“Let's meet for a moment, talk directly.”

“I'm asking you.”

“Not me.”

“So it's your mother.”

He doesn't text again. I locked the screen and called a car to go back to the company. On the way, Phuong Du called and I told him what happened.

“Damn, this house—” Phuong Du cursed for half a day, then finally asked: “So what are you going to do?”

"It doesn't matter what the stars are. If we don't do Hoa Duyet, there will be other customers. This city is not opened by his family."

“Aren't you afraid they will continue to oppress you?”

"Insert, then insert. I neither steal nor rob. Based on his ability to eat, how much can he suppress?"