Chapter 15 — Leaving You, I Shine

"Agree." He patted the table, "Then I'll say it frankly - Co Hanh and I actually had a meal together, but that was just a table pairing during an event, we haven't even made friends on WeChat yet. This project is a budget approved by Tinh Than headquarters, for Co Thi it's all river water and not well water. You can rest assured that you accept it."

I nodded: "I'll take a look at the contract. If there's no problem, I'll sign it next week."

“Definitely.”

Out of the club, I stood in the parking lot and called Luc Dich.

“It was you who recommended me?”

The other party seemed to be eating something, his voice was slightly muffled: "Yes. What's wrong?"

“Thank you.”

"There's no point in being polite. If you have the skills, then I can recommend it. If someone else has poor ability, then if I recommend it, I'll just destroy my own sign."

I hung up the phone, the sky was gradually getting dark. Consulting fee of 2.4 million yuan, if received smoothly, this will be the first major project after Chieu Bach's establishment. If done well, the name Chieu Bach will have a place in the world. The next day, I confessed to boss Chau that I had opened my own company outside.

"Boss Chau, I originally intended to wait until it was done properly before talking about it, but the scale of Do Minh Vien's project is very large, after accepting it, perhaps my strength cannot handle full-time work anymore."

After listening, Boss Chau leaned back in his chair and looked at me for half a day.

“Are you planning to resign?”

“It's up to you, boss. If you see a conflict—”

“Conflict you bastard.” He laughed, "You've been working here for two months and I've already seen that you're not destined to work for someone else. Go ahead, I'll write you an introduction letter. If there's any collaborative project in the future, we'll discuss it further."

“Boss Chau…”

"Don't be shy. When you get rich in the future, just invite me to a delicious meal."

So, I officially quit my job at boss Chau's company and devoted myself wholeheartedly to operating Chieu Bach. Three days later, signed the contract. A week later, my 3-person team was set up - one person in charge of brand strategy, one content staff, and one designer. All are trustworthy freelancers introduced by Phuong Du. Studio Chieu Bach officially opened.

—

The first month of launching the project, I worked until 12 midnight almost every day. 12 brands, one by one surveyed, one by one positioned, one by one came up with a strategic framework. The amount of work is huge, but every day is very reassuring - because every job done is done for yourself. This feeling has never happened in the past six years. Do Minh Vien was very satisfied with my work performance, and in the third week, he paid an additional fee, allowing me to take on the contract to upgrade the visual identity of 4 of those brands. Phuong Du finally knew about Chieu Bach's story, his reaction was: "When did you sign up?! Why didn't you say anything to me?!"

“Isn't that what we said now?”

"Okay. If you need any design assistance, just call me anytime. Friendly price."

“No need for friendly prices, fair payment.”

“The person you are—”

"I don't take advantage of my friends, so don't let me suffer either. After the company grows, you will be Chieu Bach's first contracted designer."

Phuong Du was speechless when I spoke, then burst out laughing: "Okay, boss, you look very nice." Life just goes by. Rich work, gradual income stabilized, the circle of social relations began to naturally shift from "Co Thi's network" to the new field of creative culture. Co Hanh's side was completely silent. Since the night he stood outside my door and said those two sentences, there has been almost a month without any news. Tham Van also did not contact back. It seemed that after saying those two sentences, he really let go. Or to be more precise - I'm not sure if he really let go, or if he was temporarily waiting for an opportunity.