Chapter 26 — The Dignity of a Signature

I burst out laughing.

“Does he have proof?”

"Do not have."

“General Manager Tran took the initiative to find you.”

“His lawyer also issued a written explanation.”

“But Tham Hao's purpose in suing is not to win.”

“It's to make you uncomfortable.”

“He wanted before the international exhibition…”

“…you are distracted by this.”

I continued to move forward.

“Does he still have the strength to sue others?”

“Borrowing money everywhere.”

"I heard that I found a friend who used to do business to advance the lawyer's money."

I was silent for a few seconds.

“Don't pay attention to him.”

“If you need to respond, just do it.”

“Don't influence me to work.”

“Understood.”

Hanging up the phone, I continued to go home. The streetlights cast my shadow very long. Four years ago I helped Tham Hao start his business. Now he's suing me for stealing customers. The funniest type of villain in the world… …is the type of person who uses you until the end… …until they realize you can no longer let them use you… …then turns around and bites you. But it's okay. The farther I go… …the smaller he will become. The International Design Show opens in mid-March. The exhibition area is located at house number three of the International Fair Center. The total area exceeds twenty thousand square meters. One hundred and twenty participants from eleven countries and regions… …filled the entire exhibition area. The exhibition space of "Nguyen Thach" is located on the west side of house number three, near the corner with the main walkway. Not the nicest location. But Le Kha designed the booth extremely eye-catching. The entire space uses only black and white. In the middle hang miniature models of five works. Light strikes from below. Each work looks like it's glowing in mid-air.

My "Retreat" hangs in the middle.

On the first day of the exhibition opening… …the number of people visiting the “Nguyen Thach” booth exceeded three thousand. The list of signatures at the scene recorded more than sixty media units. Including more than ten specialized design magazines from abroad. Phuong Tri Vien also came. He stood in front of the "Quy Khu" model for a long time. Then he turned his head to look at me and said one sentence:

“Much more beautiful than the renderings I saw during judging.”

"Of course."

“Renders are always clipped.”

“The real thing is here.”

He laughed. On the opening afternoon, there was a discussion between the designers. The organizing committee invited ten representatives participating in the exhibition to the stage for a short sharing. I am one of them. When it was my turn, a photo appeared on the big screen. This is the first hand sketch of "Quy Khu". The bottom right corner has my signature… …and that little crane. Below the stands, someone recognized the crane. A very soft exclamation rang out. Because in the storm of public opinion a month ago… …this sketch became an iconic image. Nearly everyone who has followed the events of the Golden Crane Awards… …has seen that tiny crane.

“This is the first day ‘Quy Khu’ was born.”

I looked down at the stands.

“Eight months and nine days later…”

“…it becomes a complete work.”

“For more than eight months…”

“…I edited one hundred and forty-seven versions.”

“There were some very big fixes.”

“Overthrow and start over.”

“There are also very small repairs…”

“…just correct the curvature of a line stroke.”

“But in each version…”

“…I left this crane behind.”

“It's my symbol.”

“Remind me that…”

“…no matter whose name this work ends up being…”

“…the one who drew it is still me.”

Applause rang out below. I won't say anything more. When stepping off the stage, a woman wearing a gray windbreaker stood up from the third row and waved to me. It's Truong Ky. She is still the same as before. Old cloth bag, laptop stuffed in hand, short hair grown a little longer but not cut yet.

“Congratulations.”

“Is your studio registered?”

“The first customer is General Manager Tran, right?”

“That's really fast news.”

"I eat this job."

She laughed, then her expression became more serious.

“Lam Ha, I'll tell you something in advance.”

“My next long-form investigation…”

“…will talk about the dark side of credit theft in the design industry.”

“Your case is just the beginning.”

“But I want to dig deeper.”

“It's not just Tham Thi.”

“What do you want me to help you with?”

“Can you connect me with some designers who have had similar problems?”

I thought for a few seconds then nodded.

“But I have a request.”

“After the article was posted…”

“…every designer appears in it…”

“…must use real name.”

“Don't use fake names.”

“Don't cover your face.”

She looked at me. Then nodded vigorously.

“Of course.”

That evening after the exhibition ended… …five people from “Nguyen Thach” went together to a small restaurant near the exhibition area. Not a luxury restaurant. Just a normal family restaurant. But there were many bottles of wine on the table. Le Kha stood up holding the glass.

“Everyone saw the results today.”

“Three thousand visitors.”

“More than sixty media units reported.”

“For an alliance less than two months old…”

“…this is such a good start.”

She looked over at me.

“But what I want to say more than anything is…”

“…if it wasn't for Lam Ha a month ago…”

“…wearing a staff uniform alone, walking onto the stage…”

“…in front of the whole industry tore that veil off…”

“…then ‘Nguyen Thach’ wouldn’t get the attention it has today.”

“It's not thanks to me.”

“It's thanks to you.”

Lieu Than continued.

“What you said that day…”

“‘Every designer should have his name attached to his work.’”

“Later it was quoted countless times.”

“It's not just your words anymore.”