Chapter 10 — Seven Years of Silence, One Life of Freedom

"Tomorrow."

"I will personally meet all three customers."

"You want to go by yourself?"

"I will make arrangements immediately."

Hang up the phone. I walked out onto the balcony. Stand still for a moment. The wind is a bit cold. I returned to the office. Open a documents folder. Inside are the entire cooperation records of three customers. From the first contact... To the most recent contract extension negotiations. All contract terms. Minutes of exchange. Contact history. Payment details. Everything has been neatly arranged. These documents... are each set of documents that Wei Nhien himself silently helped me collect during the past three months. Right from the day I decided to take action. Three months ago. I already know. Chase Lam Hieu San away... It's never the end. Just a chess piece. Chu Dinh Van... is the real opponent. As for Tran Thieu Quan... I still don't understand clearly. After all... Whose side is he on. At nine o'clock the next morning, I was at the headquarters of Dinh Thinh Healthcare. This is Thua Thinh's largest distribution channel customer, with annual purchase value of nearly 80,000,000 yuan. The person in charge of the partner side is Ton Xuong Ha, over fifty years old. Her face is round, and every time she smiles, her eyes squint into a line. He looks very gentle on the outside, but everyone in the industry knows that he is an extremely sharp person. He received me in the living room. Pour two cups of tea. As soon as I sat down, I opened my mouth to inquire.

"General To came in person. It's truly a rare guest."

"It's always been Hieu San who works with me."

"Is she on leave?"

"She quit her job."

Ton Xuong Ha's movement of lifting the teacup stopped. He slowly put down the teacup.

"Quit one's job?"

"It happened yesterday."

He was silent for a few seconds. His eyes slowly slid across my face.

"Let me get this straight."

"Yesterday Hieu San came to see me."

"She said there was a share dispute happening within Thua Thinh."

"The leadership may change."

"She advised me to just keep watching this year."

"Don't rush to renew the contract."

"What does General Manager Ton think?"

"I think..."

He leaned back in his chair. Hands clasped together on the stomach.

"It doesn't matter who you cooperate with."

"The important thing is whether the product is good or not."

"Is the price reasonable or not?"

"Is the after-sales service keeping up?"

"All three of those things."

"I can guarantee it."

He smiled.

"Please forgive me for being blunt."

"You've never been in charge of work before."

"I have cooperated with Thua Thinh for six years."

"I've never met you once."

"Now you say you can guarantee it."

"What should I believe?"

I took out a folder of documents from my bag. Place it in front of him.

"What is this?"

"New cooperation plan."

"Three year contract extension."

"The purchase price of the first order will be reduced by 5%."

"From the second year it will return to the old price."

"Also..."

"During cooperation."

"Thua Thinh will open a custom algorithm interface specifically for Dinh Thinh."

"Your device can connect directly to our cloud diagnostics platform."

Ton Xuong Ha opened the document. The expression immediately changed.

"Custom skin?"

"I proposed this to Hieu San three times before."

"Every time she said the technical department disagreed."

"The engineering department has agreed."

He raised his head to look at me.

"This condition..."

"Understand San can't give it to me."

"I Just arrived in person."

He stared at the documents for nearly half a minute. Then close. Gently pat the clipboard.

"I accept this plan."

"Tomorrow, let the legal departments of both sides exchange contract details."

He stood up. Actively reached out towards me.

"Hopefully we will cooperate more in the future."

I shook his hand. Leave Dinh Thinh's building. Wei Nhien was already waiting in the car.

"What was the result?"

"The first customer can keep it."

Wei Nhien breathed a sigh of relief.

"The next stop is Trung Hoa Health."

"Two o'clock in the afternoon."

The person in charge of Trung Hoa Health, Pho Man, is even more difficult to deal with than Ton Xuong Ha. Over forty years old. Quick style. Talk frankly. Just sat down. The first thing she said was:

"I agreed to meet you today..."

"It's to respect Thua Thinh."

"But I said it first."

"If what Lam Hieu San said yesterday is true..."

"This year Trung Hoa will not renew the contract."

"What did she say to you?"

"She said."

"The controlling shareholder and the board of directors of Thua Thinh have turned their backs."

"The company may replace the entire management team."

"The supply chain is also likely to be disrupted."

"She advised me to prepare an alternative early."

I looked at Pho Man.

"Deputy General Director."

"According to you..."

"The words of someone who was just fired from the company..."

"How trustworthy is it?"

Pho Man did not answer. Just quietly looked at me.