Chapter 4 — People Whose Achievements Are Stolen

He carried the entire banquet table clean. He even licked even the bottom of the plate. In the end, he just threw two bags of bean milk back at me. I turned off the email interface. Open cloud storage. Half a year ago I had a habit. All important emails, once received, will automatically sync to the personal cloud. It's a professional habit due to working in experimental data management for too long. Unexpectedly, one day... It would save me. In the cloud drive, the original invitation letter of the "Thu Quang Plan" still lies there. Timestamp. Not a single word has been altered. I took a screenshot of the entire interface and saved it in three copies. Two copies in two different cloud folders. A copy sent directly to personal email. Then I closed the laptop. Very light movement. In the hallway, footsteps were heard. Someone stopped in front of my lab door for two seconds and then left. I didn't look to see who it was. I sat on the chair, adjusted the pen, notepad and stapler on the table to a neat position. Only when everything is lined up perfectly with the edge of the table... does my breathing gradually stabilize. In the hallway, footsteps were heard again. This time it stopped completely. Next were two very soft knocks on the door. Chu Man pushed the door open and walked in, holding a stack of documents under his hand. She placed the file on the corner of my desk, didn't leave immediately, but stood there pushing her glasses with her middle finger.

“I always feel…”

“Your experiment plan number five from that year was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen at this institute.”

After speaking, she turned around and left, closing the door behind her. The hem of the white blouse swept across the door frame, making a very soft rustling sound. Then gradually farther away. I bowed my head and looked at the pile of documents she left behind. At the top is the label:

“Annual project evaluation records.”

Logically, this thing should be in the administrative office's storage cabinet, and cannot appear on my desk. I opened the first page. Inside the clipboard is a small piece of paper. It's Chu Man's handwriting.

“Page thirty-seven. Compare signatures.”

The next morning, I didn't go to the lab. But go straight to the administrative office. Not to cause trouble. The story of Ly Phong forging my signature, blocking emails, forging health certificates... I haven't told anyone a word. I went to the administrative office just to do a small job. I want to see my own personnel file. Ms. Trieu in the administrative office saw me and was a bit surprised.

“Miss Tham Niem, what do you want to investigate?”

“Annual evaluation records, from last year to this year.”

“I'm rearranging my personal academic background and want to verify some dates.”

This reason is completely reasonable. Ms. Trieu didn't think much and directly took the documents to me. I sat in front of the desk reading documents in the administrative office, flipping through the pages one by one. In last year's evaluation file, the project achievements section recorded four items. I remember each category very clearly. From topic creation to completion. Experiment done by me. Data run by me. Thesis written by me. But in the author's signature column... Three out of four achievements read:

“Ha Uyen Thanh.”

The remaining category reads:

“Ly Phong, Tham Niem.”

I continued to flip down. Last year's records were even cleaner. Five achievements. The leading author is: Ha Uyen Thanh. Ha Uyen Thanh. Ha Uyen Thanh. In those five sections... There is not a single name "Tham Niem". But all of the original notebooks of those five experimental groups... are all in my handwriting. I Close the file. Ms. Trieu was opposite, arranging documents, and casually asked:

“Miss Tham, did you find what you needed?”

“By the way, Ms. Tham…”

She hesitated a bit then lowered her voice.

"Previously, Deputy Principal Ly came to help you adjust your records once. He said he was updating some documents for you."

"At that time, I felt a bit strange. Husband and wife's personnel records should not be done on behalf of each other."

“But he is the vice principal… I don't want to stop him.”

“When did he come to edit my file?”

“Probably more than two months ago.”

More than two months ago. Coinciding exactly with the time the letter from the "Thu Quang Plan" was responded to.

“Thank you, Ms. Trieu.”

I stood up, returned the file to her and walked out of the administrative office. In the hallway, two people are coming. Ly Phong and Ha Uyen Thanh. Two people walk side by side. Ha Uyen Thanh was holding a stack of newly printed documents, tilting her head and saying something to Ly Phong. Halfway through his sentence, he saw me and immediately fell silent. Ly Phong's footsteps stopped for half a beat.

“Nien Niem, why are you going to the administrative office?”

“Look up some evaluation records.”

“Why look that up?”

“Rearranging your academic resume.”

He nodded, as if accepting that explanation. Ha Uyen Thanh walked around behind him and smiled at me.

"Sister Tham Niem, I'm flying to Berlin the day after tomorrow. Before I go, I want to invite everyone in the hospital to dinner. Can you come?"

Her voice was so sincere that... I almost wanted to doubt whether what I saw in the file just now was an illusion.

“Let's see.”

"Then I'll wait to hear from you."

She leaned over to make way for me. The gesture carries the kind of kindness the junior class gives to the seniors. As I passed between the two of them, out of the corner of my eye I saw Dao Vien standing at the end of the hallway, leaning next to the water heater. His eyes stopped on Ha Uyen Thanh's back for a second or two and then quickly moved away. Today's standing posture is also unusual. No more clasping hands behind your back like usual. It's the two hands stuffed in the pockets of the white blouse, the shoulders slightly curled. I didn't stop and went straight upstairs. Returning to the laboratory, I opened the file Chu Man left behind yesterday and turned to page thirty-seven. That's last year's application to change the topic.