Chapter 10 — People Whose Achievements Are Stolen

Dao Vien chimed in again:

“This takes time…”

“At least a week.”

I looked straight at each person in the meeting room.

“In a situation where the collated data is still incomplete…”

“You guys concluded I falsified the data?”

The atmosphere in the meeting room became even quieter. An expert took off his glasses, wiped them, and put them back on. He turned to Ly Phong.

“Deputy Director Ly, according to normal academic investigation standards…”

“If the original collated data is incomplete, preliminary conclusions cannot be drawn.”

“The process is not so appropriate.”

Ly Phong's face changed slightly. He looked at Director Tien. The enamel cup lid in Dean Tien's hand tapped three times on the rim of the cup.

“Let's do this.”

“The investigation is temporarily stopped.”

“Wait for complete supplementation of comparison data and then re-evaluate.”

“During that time, Tieu Tham's scientific research rights continue to be frozen to ensure data independence.”

He clapped his hands on the table. The final appearance leaves no one to refute. No one spoke up against it. Including three outside experts. After all, they were invited by Principal Tien. The meeting ended. When I walked out of the meeting room, people were leaving in small groups. At the end of the hallway, only Dao Vien remained. He stood next to the window, his hands in the pockets of his white blouse. Seeing me coming, the corner of his lips curled up in a smile.

“Tham Niem, I advise you to stop struggling.”

“Now you no longer have the right to enter the laboratory.”

“No data.”

“There is no topic.”

“The thesis doesn't even have your name on it.”

“What other storms can you overcome?”

I walked past him without answering. Behind him, he said another sentence.

“Ly Phong treats you well enough.”

“He even gave you a decent way to retreat, but you yourself refused.”

I stopped walking. Turn your head to look at him.

“Dao Vien.”

“The message from Ha Uyen Thanh told you to edit my data…”

“Have you deleted it yet?”

The smile on his face disappeared. The whole person took half a step back, his back lightly hitting the window glass. I didn't wait for him to answer. Turn around and leave. He won't delete it. I bet that's it. Dao Vien is the type of person who is clever but cowardly. He will definitely keep traces of what he has done. Because he is afraid that one day Ha Uyen Thanh and Ly Phong will turn around and wash away their responsibility. He must save a way to live for himself. Back at the general support office, I sat down and opened the recording file on my phone. Two hours and seventeen minutes. From beginning to end the fall is extremely clear. I upload the recording file to the cloud. Back up three copies. Then take out your phone and scroll down to the bottom of the contacts list. Stop at a phone number. This number was saved two years ago. At that time, I participated in a national academic conference. He proactively asked for my contact method, saying he had read my thesis and hoped to have the opportunity to cooperate in the future. For two years… I never called that number. It's not that I don't want to call. It's that I feel like I'm not qualified enough. Maybe it's still not enough. But I have no way back anymore. I pressed the call button. The bell rang three times. The other end of the line picked up the phone.

“Hello, who is it?”

“Hello. I am Tham Niem of Huaqing Materials Research Institute.”

“Two years ago at the national Functional Materials conference, you gave me a business card.”

The other end of the line was silent two seconds.

“Tham Niem?”

“Research directions for self-healing coating materials?”

“Wait a minute… I've already read your thesis on multi-step reaction mechanisms.”

“Very excellent.”

“Why didn't you continue to publish it after that?”

“The situation is a bit complicated.”

“How complicated?”

I took a deep breath, smoothed my hair back and tied it tightly.

“This call is likely to last quite a while.”

“Is it convenient for you now?”

The other end of the line stopped for a second.

“You say it.”

After the call ended, I placed the phone screen face down on the table and sat still for a long time. The parking lot light outside the window lit up. Below, someone honked the car's horn and it took three hours to stop. I stood up, packed my things, turned off the lights and locked the door. Come home. Ly Phong was not there. On the tea table placed a piece of paper. His handwriting:

"There's a social occasion tonight, so don't come back for dinner. There's food in the refrigerator, please warm it up yourself."

I opened the refrigerator. Inside there was a box of fried rice for two days and half a watermelon. I'm not crazy about anything. Just pour a glass of water and sit down next to the dining table. Boiled water then cooled. The phone rang again. Not Ly Phong. It's a strange number. I picked up the phone.

“Miss Tham Niem, I am the coordination office staff of Thu Quang Plan.”

“Academician Co asked me to convey his message to you.”

“He received your explanation of the situation.”

"Because this matter is related to the internal management of the research institute, it is not convenient for him to directly intervene."

“But he wanted to send you a message.”

“He said…”

“‘The invitation is still valid. But you need to come before me yourself.’”

The line rang with a short hiss.

“Miss Tham Niem, do you understand the meaning of this sentence?”

"I get it."

“Then I wish you the best.”

The call ended.