Chapter 13 — My Nameless Occupation

"Sister To, why are you so kind to me?"

"It is not a matter of kindness. It is because you possess genuine talent. At Hang Vien, you were simply being stifled."

After he left, I closed the door. To Niem was standing in the hallway.

"Mother, are you building a team?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Poaching people one by one from your old company, that is what."

I shot her a sharp look. She retreated, pulling her head into her shoulders as she headed back to her room. Yet, she was not wrong. Every move Chu Han made at Hang Vien was effectively working in my favor. He believed he was pulling up weeds by the root and consolidating his territory, but in reality, he was delivering the people who knew Hang Vien best directly to my doorstep, one by one.

On the day Phuong Ngan officially took over the operations department at Hang Vien, Chu Han sent a message in the management group.

"Effective today, the operational management of Hang Vien Group will be fully under the purview of Phuong Ngan. The collaboration with Thuy Hoa Consulting will enter a re-evaluation phase. All personnel currently on-site must cease work immediately and await further results."

When Vu Tieu Man received the notification, she was in a Hang Vien conference room. She called me immediately.

"Sister To, we have been ordered to stop our work."

"Who signed off on this?"

"Chu Han. He bypassed Chief Ha’s seal and used the approval authority of the Deputy General Manager."

"Does Ha Kien Quoc know?"

"Chief Ha is away on a business trip meeting clients in another province. Chu Han seized the opportunity while he was out of the office to make his move."

I put the phone down and walked toward the window. This maneuver had occurred a week earlier than I had anticipated, but the logic remained unchanged. What Chu Han wanted was not a re-evaluation of the Thuy Hoa proposal—the effectiveness of the plan was evident to everyone; four departments had increased their productivity by forty percent, cold, hard numbers that could not be disputed. What he wanted was to scrub all traces of my influence from Hang Vien. Because as long as the Thuy Hoa proposal was being implemented, people would remember To Van. They would remember the administrative specialist he had fired, the one who had built a system a hundred times more useful than his three-million-currency software. He could not tolerate that.

I called Tham Dich.

"Chief Tham, the worst-case scenario you predicted has come to pass."

"I know. Vu Tieu Man already informed me. What is the next step?"

"Prepare the dossier we discussed."

"The one regarding the Cam Thanh Commercial accounts?"

"Yes. And include the data on the price inflation of the recent 1.2 million-currency IT equipment batch as well."

"To whom shall I deliver this?"

"Deliver it to Co Vien Chu."

Tham Dich remained silent for three seconds.

"To Van, are you certain about this? Playing this card means tearing the mask off completely."

"Chief Tham, it is not I who wants to tear the mask off. It is he who has banned our project. The eight-hundred-thousand-currency contract has been unilaterally suspended by Party A, and we can pursue legal remedies for that. But before we do, I will give him one final chance."

"What kind of chance?"

"To let Ha Kien Quoc make his choice."

"And if Ha Kien Quoc still chooses Chu Han?"

I looked out the window. The city lights were flickering to life, section by section. Twelve years ago, on my first day at Hang Vien, the sky had worn this exact shade of twilight. To Niem was only three years old then. I had ridden my electric scooter across half the city, arriving at the office five minutes late. Ha Kien Quoc had stood at the door and said with a smile, "It is no matter; just be mindful next time."

Twelve years. I had etched every operational detail of this company into my muscle memory. Every process, every node, the temperament and habits of every single person. I understood Hang Vien better than Ha Kien Quoc ever would.

"If he still chooses Chu Han—"

I lowered my gaze.

"Then Hang Vien is no longer worth my concern."

I hung up. The phone screen lit up again. A new message. From Chu Han.