Chapter 6 — On the day of divorce, I applied to quit my job

I don't say anything more. But that night. After arriving home. In my head, that picture still appears. The fish jumped out of the tank. Water is not enough. It has no other choice. Isn't that the same? The industry forum is held at the end of the month. Friday afternoon. The location is the Convention and Exhibition Center east of the city. Attendees are all small and medium-sized businesses in the field of local design and branding. The scale is not too large. But there were also more than three hundred people in attendance. Among them there are no shortage of owners of several leading design companies. My speech was scheduled for the second part of the afternoon. Before going on stage. I sat in the break area behind the scenes. Review the PowerPoint one last time. The phone screen went dark and then lit up. It's a message from Phuong Du.

"Come on! Today this stage definitely belongs to you."

I smiled. Put your phone in your pocket. When the host read my name. I stood up. Handily placed the jacket on the back of the chair. He only had a white turtleneck sweater and dark pants on. Step on stage. The light immediately shone down. More than three hundred faces in the stands turned into a blur of darkness. I don't have the manuscript with me. The entire talk is twenty minutes long. It's all in my head. The first thing I said was:

"The first step in running a brand is knowing who you are."

The next twenty minutes. I speak extremely fluently. Six years of writing a speech for Co Hanh were indeed not in vain. Go to how to integrate the example. Everything is as natural as flowing water. Under the stands. Some people take notes attentively. Someone held up their phone to take pictures of each PowerPoint slide. Go to the Q&A section. A man over forty years old raised his hand.

"Hello Director Lam."

"What company did you work at before?"

"In the profile, it's only written as assistant general director of Co Thi Real Estate."

"From assistant to Director of Operations..."

"Isn't this distance a bit big?"

I predicted someone would ask this question.

"I worked at Co Thi for six years."

"Title is assistant."

"But the actual work includes public relations, branding, project coordination and client management."

"Is the gap big or not..."

"It's not about the title."

"It's about what you actually did."

In the hall. A few people clapped. The man nodded slightly. Don't ask any more. Coming off the stage, seven or eight people came one after another to give me their business cards. Including the Marketing Director of the city's largest restaurant chain, he asked me if I was interested in receiving a brand consulting project in the form of outsourcing. I received the business card.

"I will consider it."

General Manager Chu sat in the third row of seats in the stands. After the program ended, he walked over and patted my shoulder.

"Today you spoke better than me. From now on, forums like this just let you go."

I just smiled. When I walked out of the exhibition center, it was already dark. The street light had just come on. A black Mercedes was parked right in front of the exit. I recognize that car. The window rolled down. The person sitting in the back row is Tham Van. Co Hanh's mother. She gently waved her hand at me.

"Chieu Chieu, get in the car, I'll invite you to eat a meal."

I stood still.

"Uncle, if there's anything you need to say, just say it Over the phone is fine."

"The phone can't speak clearly."

"It only took me half an hour."

I looked at her. The makeup is still as delicate as always. The hair is tied in a neat bun without any tangles. Pearl earrings reflect the gentle streetlights. The person is sixty years old. But it's been so well taken care of that it looks like it's only in its forties. I was silent for three seconds.

"Half an hour."

I got in the car. The car smelled faintly of gardenia. That's the perfume Tham Van always uses. The driver did not ask for the location. Just start the car and drive away. The destination has been arranged in advance. Tham Van tilted her head and looked at me. His eyes slowly scanned my face.

"You've gotten thinner."

I didn't reply.

"Are you busy with your new job?"

"Hanh Hanh said I didn't reply to his messages."

"We are divorced."

"There is no obligation to respond to each other's messages."

Tham Van sighed softly. Still the type of sigh as if to say...

"Why don't you understand something like that?"

The car stopped in front of a private restaurant. The space is very quiet. The frontage is not big. Inside are all private rooms. The waiter pours tea. Tham Van ordered a few dishes in advance. Then tell the staff to leave.

"Chieu Chieu."

"Let me tell you the truth."

"Just say it."

"This divorce..."

"Hanh Hanh was completely mentally unprepared."

My hand holding the cup of tea stopped.

"Not mentally prepared?"

"What do you mean?"

"It kept thinking..."

"You two were just angry for a while."

I put down the tea cup. The cup made a very small "click" sound.

"We have already received the divorce papers."

"This is not anger."

"I know."

"But you understand Hanh Hanh's nature."

"It reacts slowly."

"Especially in love."

"Always the last to notice."

"Finally realized after six years."

"It's slow enough."