Chapter 17 — People Whose Achievements Are Stolen

But his counterattack is not a direct confrontation. The invitation letter has very clear evidence. He couldn't turn over anymore. He looked for another angle. Afternoon. Research institute cafeteria. Lunch time. Almost everyone was present. Ly Phong did not appear. But Dao Vien does. He held a tray of rice and sat at the head of the long table in the middle of the restaurant. There were three or four people sitting around. When I walked in to get food... I heard the conversation at that table.

"Do you know why Tham Niem was able to establish a relationship with Co Hoai An?"

Dao Vien's voice is neither loud nor soft. Just enough for the two surrounding tables to hear clearly.

“Wasn't there someone who came to the hospital to look for Tham Niem before?”

“A man, not from our hospital.”

“You two sat for a long time at the cafe in front of the gate.”

“Say, everyone, a married woman secretly met a strange man behind her husband's back…”

“Is it normal?”

Someone immediately followed suit:

“Who is that man?”

“Who knows.”

Dao Vien took a bite of rice, chewed it twice and continued:

“Not her husband anyway.”

"Her husband is in the hospital busy first and second, and she is outside drinking coffee with other men."

He said again:

"Think about it everyone, why did Co Hoai An suddenly run to our hospital?"

“Before that it was silent for so long.”

“As soon as Tham Niem met that man, Co Hoai An immediately came.”

“Don't you guys see that there's something unexplainable about this?”

He didn't say those two words directly. But the whole table understood what he was referring to. I stood in line to get food. About four or five meters away from their table. The waitress at the counter called out:

“Is the braised fish still available?”

I turned my head. As she put the fish on the tray for me, another girl's head appeared from behind the kitchen window.

“Miss Tham, the other table is talking bad about you.”

"I know."

“Aren't you angry?”

“Are you done fishing yet?”

She was stunned for a moment.

"It's done, it's done. Let me give you another spoonful of sauce."

I carried the tray of rice and sat by the window. Chu Man sat down in the chair opposite me. In her tray there was only a plate of green vegetables and a bowl of soup.

“Didn't you notice he was talking bad about you?”

“Discovered.”

“And yet you can still eat?”

Chu Man watched me eat two pieces of fish. She pushed up her glasses.

“Who is the man he said he met you at the coffee shop?”

“Research assistant of academician Gu.”

"At that time, after the Thu Quang Plan sent invitation letters and still did not receive my response, academician Co felt there was a problem so he sent his assistant to find me to ask about the situation."

“But after the assistant arrived at the hospital, Ly Phong's people stopped him.”

"They said I was preparing to get pregnant and had already left the research line."

“My assistant can't see me.”

“Before leaving, he sat at the cafe in front of the hospital gate waiting for me to get off work, wanting to find me directly.”

“Can he wait for you?”

"That day, I was arranged by Ly Phong to go on a business trip outside the province to take samples, and was not at the hospital."

“The assistant waited three hours and then left.”

I took a sip of soup.

“But Dao Vien saw a strange man sitting in a cafe waiting for me.”

“He didn't know who it was.”

Chu Man was silent for a moment.

“Now he's making fun of this.”

“Aren't you going to explain?”

“No need for me to explain.”

I put down my chopsticks.

"Close Academician Co knows the fate of that research assistant."

“As long as Dao Vien makes a big deal about this, let it spread to academician Co…”

“Then the one who died was him.”

Chu Man leaned back in his chair, the corners of his lips moved slightly.

“She was waiting for him to jump into the hole himself.”

“I didn't do anything.”

“If he wants to jump, just jump.”

The next day. Indeed, Dao Vien made a big deal out of it. He wrote an anonymous letter. Of course it's not really anonymous. Everyone knows he writes. The letter was sent to the disciplinary supervision mailbox of the Provincial Department of Science and Technology, stating that Tham Niem had inappropriate relationships with outsiders, suspecting that she was using personal tricks to gain eligibility to participate in national-level projects. The same afternoon the letter was sent to... Co Hoai An did something. He told the accompanying staff to set up a computer in the second floor meeting room of the research institute, connecting the video to a meeting room of the National Academy. On the other end of the line were four people sitting. One of them... It was "the strange man who met Tham Niem at the coffee shop" in Dao Vien's mouth. On the business card on his chest, he wrote: Key Laboratory of Functional Materials of the National Academy. Research assistant.