Chapter 10 — The Day I Return

The room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
“Tieu Duong —”
“I'm done talking.”
I walked towards the door. When my hand was on the doorknob, I stopped. Don't turn around.
"I have heard your explanation. I don't resent you, I don't hate you. But between us - there is no longer any possibility."
Open the door, step out. On the gravel road, my high heels made sharp clicking sounds. There was no sound of footsteps behind us. Until I got in the car, the car door was tightly closed, the car rolled out of Hoa Vien gate - Still no one chased me. I leaned back in the chair and closed my eyes. Nails hang down from the palm of the hand. Leaving behind four bloody scars in the shape of a crescent moon. Nguyen Tieu Ngu sat quietly next to him, not asking a single question. After a while, she softly asked: "Going back to the hotel?"
"YES."
“Do you want a drink?”
"Are not."
“Do you want to eat late?”
"Are not."
“So… do you want to cry?”
I opened my eyes. The neon lights of the city outside the window were rushing backwards.
"No need."
There's really no need. Giang Duong from three years ago would cry. Giang Duong today is not. But when I got back to the hotel room, took a shower, turned off the lights, and lay on the bed — I kept my eyes open in the dark, opening them for a long time. There is a small wet patch on the pillow. I don't know when it got wet. Maybe it's because my hair hasn't dried yet. Probably so. **【Chapter 4】** Third day. When sunlight filtered through the curtains, I woke up. Actually, I've been awake since four in the morning. Lying with my eyes closed until six thirty, listening to the city outside turn from quiet to noisy, the sound of traffic gradually becoming busy. At six forty-five, I woke up, brushed my teeth, washed my face, changed clothes, and cleaned myself up to become a normal, energetic adult. The person in the mirror had a calm face, the red streaks of blood under his eyes were hidden and could no longer be seen. Nguyen Tieu Ngu is still sleeping. I don't make small calls. Went downstairs alone, had breakfast at the hotel restaurant — a bowl of white porridge, a plate of side dishes, half a boiled egg. Today's schedule is to do a field survey of the industrial park. At nine o'clock in the morning, the driver came to pick me up on time. When the commercial vehicle left the hotel, I noticed — There was no longer that Maybach across the street. The shadow of the black car that had been following me for the past two days was gone today. Somehow, that made my heart skip a beat. But I immediately pressed it down. Not related to me. The selected industrial park is located in the high-tech zone in the north of the city, not far from the new cemetery. The three-thousand-acre land plot is currently only in phase one development. The road has been completed, on both sides are neat rows of green trees, at the end of the road are several completed standard factory buildings. The person accompanying the survey was Chairman Lam of the High-Tech Park Management Board, over forty years old, resourceful, quiet, and talked only in numbers throughout the process.
"Dr. Giang, we initially planned your laboratory in area B, with an independent power source, an independent waste discharge system, and the biosafety level can reach P3 standards."
I squatted down to look at the concrete mark of the foundation and nodded.
“What about earthquake resistance?”
“Level 8.”
“Ventilation system?”
“Pine negative pressure wind, similar to the parameters of your Geneva laboratory before — Engineer Tong, take out the drawings.”
A young engineer stood next to him, handing over a stack of drawings. I flipped through a few pages, pointing to a key point: "The fireproof partition in this location must be thicker, we have a high temperature reaction device."
“No problem, we will fix it right away.”
Director Lam stood next to me, looking at my appearance, the corner of his lips slightly raised.