Chapter 6 — Leaving You, I Shine

"Lam Chieu, next month there is an industry forum. I was originally supposed to go share but the meeting schedule clashed. Can you go instead of me?"

“What topic?”

“Branding for small and medium design companies, 20-minute presentation and 10-minute Q&A.”

“Yes.”

“Not shaking?”

“It's nothing to tremble.”

In the past, each of Co Hanh's speeches was written by me. The person standing on stage is him, but the soul is mine. Now, I can stand on stage by myself. On Wednesday, while I was organizing my presentation outline, my phone lit up. Co Hanh. This is the third time after the divorce he proactively contacted me. The message was just one line: "I have a term deposit on your card. No need to return it." I looked at this text for 10 seconds. He finally found out. Or rather, he finally admitted the existence of this. The three words "No need to pay", I don't know what he means. Is it generous? Guilty? Or are you too lazy to run to the bank to settle the 3 million amount? I thought for 5 seconds, texted back two words: "I know." Then there was no more after that. I continued writing my outline. Friday afternoon after work, Phuong Du dragged me to attend a small exhibition of illustrators. Held at a gallery in the creative district, few people, with free wine. I held a glass of wine and stood in front of a painting. The painting depicts a fish jumping out of a tank, floating in mid-air, the background is a wilderness area.

“This picture is quite good.”

Someone spoke from behind. The male voice is deep, the tail sounds slightly raised arbitrarily. I looked back. A man stood half a step back to my right, in his mid-30s, wearing a dark blue knit shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his forearms. He was also holding a glass of red wine, looking at the painting, not at me.

“The moment of release from the container,” he said, “freedom and suffocation happen at the same time.”

I didn't answer. He tilted his head and looked at me, laughing: "How long have you been looking at this picture?"

“Seven minutes.”

“So what can you see?”

“The water level in the fish tank is very low.”

He raised his eyebrows: "Should it?"

“So it doesn't have to jump out on its own. Because the water is no longer enough, it has no other choice.”

He was silent for a moment, then gently raised his glass of wine to signal: "Interesting. I'm Luc Dich, curator of this exhibition."

“Lam Chieu.”

“Lam Chieu, what field do you work in?”

“Operation.”

“Looking at the paintings, they are more accurate than many people in the art world.” Phuong Du didn't know where he came from, put his arm on my shoulder, "My friend, just recently changed jobs."

Luc Dich nodded: "Welcome to visit often. There are exhibitions every second Friday of the month." After speaking, he raised his glass and left to greet the other guests. Phuong Du leaned close to my ear and whispered: "Handsome?"

“Not paying attention.”

"Who are you fooling? He's single, I know him, he's an art curator, his family conditions are pretty good."

“Phuong Du.”

“How?”

“I just got divorced last month.”

"So what? It's not illegal to meet new people."

I won't say anything more. But when I got home that night, I remembered that picture again - the fish jumping out of the tank. Water is no longer enough, it has no other choice. I am no different where.

—

The industry forum takes place at the end of the month, on Friday afternoon, at the exhibition center east of the city. The attendees were all small and medium-sized businesses in the local design and branding industry. The scale was not too large, but there were more than 300 participants, including several big bosses of top companies. My presentation ranked second in the afternoon.