Chapter 6 — People Whose Achievements Are Stolen

I used a wet towel to clean the table top, placed the pencil case, water cup and laptop neatly. I also measured the distance between the pen box and the water cup again and adjusted it until it was completely balanced with the width of the table top. Then I turned on the computer. Got a new email. The sender was the public mailbox of the deputy director's office managed by Ly Phong. Notice content: Three topics being researched under my name have been transferred to Ha Uyen Thanh's group to manage. The original lab books and initial data need to be edited, filed and returned to the scientific research management department this week. Submit original data. My original data. Six years of dedication... With just one email, I want to deliver everything. I did not reply to that letter. At ten o'clock in the morning, Tieu Ma from the research management department pushed a cart to my office.

"Miss Tham, Deputy Principal Ly told me to come get the original notebooks and hard drives of your experimental groups' data."

“Why do I have to hand over my data?”

"Deputy Director Ly told the project team to adjust the topic. When the topic moves, the data also goes with it."

“Data follows topic?”

I raised my head to look at him.

“Whose data follows that person's topic?”

“These data are my independent personal achievements, not posted on behalf of any group.”

Tieu Ma was embarrassed by my question.

"This... Ms. Tham, please discuss it with Deputy Principal Ly. I'm just running errands."

He pushed the empty cart away. In the afternoon, Ly Phong himself came. He stood at the door of the general support office, scanning the room filled with safes. That expression carries a bit of helplessness like:

“I was determined to make things turn out like this.”

“Nien Niem, why don't you cooperate about the data?”

“That's my data.”

“The topic belongs to the institute.”

He spoke very calmly.

"I work in the institute, use the institute's equipment to create data, the data belongs to the institute's management. It is not my personal property."

“So what about signing the thesis?”

I looked straight at him.

“Last year, in five articles, the top author did not have any article named after me.”

“When doing experiments, you remember that the data was created using the institute's equipment.”

“When it was time to publish your thesis, you guys forgot?”

His hand touched the watch strap again.

“Everyone is on the same team.”

“Don't pay too much attention to small things like signing names.”

“Signing is a small matter?”

“Data ownership is a trivial matter?”

“So in your eyes, what is the big deal?”

“Nien Niem, your attitude is like that…”

“What is my attitude?”

He paused for a few seconds. When he opened his mouth again, his tone had changed to the gentle style used to talk to patients.

“You've been emotionally unstable lately, I understand.”

“This is it, I won't force you anymore.”

"This week, I'll slowly arrange it and submit it next week."

As he left, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and glanced at it. Your finger quickly swipes twice across the screen. I see the blue WeChat interface. The first pinned chat frame has a profile picture of a white gardenia flower. Representative photo of Ha Uyen Thanh. He doesn't even shy away from me anymore. Or should we say… He felt no need to dodge anymore. I sat in front of the old desk in the corner of the room, pushing the pencil case half a centimeter to the left. All afternoon, I rummaged through the old filing cabinets of the support office synthetic aid. Nominal is the new job. But I have my own purpose. That anonymous note once said: The health examination report is saved as an additional document in my application for admission. But according to regulations... All of those approval documents are stored in the third storage cabinet of the general support office. I found it. In a sealed envelope contains all the documents for this year's admission approval. As for my profile, in addition to the personal application and the list of research achievements... there is one more thing. That's the fake pregnancy test paper. The content is exactly the same as the version I found in the trash can on the stairs. But this is the original. There is a signature column. In the signature section write:

“Tham Niem.”

The handwriting is identical to the photo I took. It's still the word "Tham" drawn too quickly. I use my phone to take high-resolution photos. Each shot from a different angle. Then I put the original back in the sealed bag, put it back in the same place in the filing cabinet, and locked it. The key is hung back in the lockbox on the wall. Not a millimeter off. Return home at night.

This "home" is Ly Phong and I's marital apartment, located in a residential area three kilometers from the east gate of the research institute.

He paid the deposit for the house. I pay the loan every month. The living room light is not on. I didn't turn on the light either, just sat down on the sofa and opened my laptop. In the cloud, I spent an hour organizing all the evidence. Original invitation letter of "Thu Quang Plan". The fake rejection letter was sent by Ly Phong using the deputy principal's office email under my name. Fake pregnancy certificate. Subject change form with copied signature. The entire record of the author's name was changed over the course of two years. Ms. Trieu's verbal confirmation from the administrative office about "Ly Phong adjusted my personnel file two months ago". Along with page thirty-seven, Chu Man showed it to me to compare the signatures. I took screenshots of each item. Mark time. Note the source of information. This is no longer about a husband cheating on his wife. This is a complete “career assassination.” Have a plan. Calculated. Lasts at least two years. He just played the role of my husband... And threatened my academic life with every blow.