Chapter 27 — The Dignity of a Signature

“It becomes the sound of the heart…”

“…of so many people in this industry…”

“…people who always want to talk…”

“…but never had a chance to open my mouth.”

I hold a glass of wine in my hand. Do not drink. Just bow your head and look at the sparkling wine inside. The light reflects on the surface of the glass, swaying back and forth. I suddenly remembered one night four years ago. That day, Tham Hao finished signing the company registration certificate. He was extremely excited. Bring home a bottle of red wine and say you want to celebrate. He poured me a glass. While clinking glasses, he smiled and said:

“Later, the company grew stronger…”

“…I will let you be the general designer.”

I believed then. Truly believe. So I raised my glass to clink with him. After that, the title "general designer" never appeared. Appears as “personal assistant”… …“office staff”… …“person who helps me print documents”. And now… …that company is probably about to be erased. And here I am sitting among my co-founders… …holding a glass of wine. Outside the glass door is the night of the city. I raised my glass and clinked lightly. This glass of wine… …reveres me. Five years later.

"Lam Ha Design Studio" is no longer called "studio" anymore.

It has a new name.

“Lam Ha Space Design.”

Thirty-eight employees. Three offices. In the East of the city, they have rented their own independent working space. The number of projects signed each year exceeds forty. On a shelf in the living room lay seven trophies. Each piece… …has the same name engraved in the designer's name. The appearance of “Nguyen Thach” at the International Design Exhibition that year… …later became a classic case in many specialized articles. The five founders now all operate independently. But the "Nguyen Thach" brand is still there. Every year we will work together to create an annual exhibition. Phuong Tri Vien retired two years ago. Before retiring, the last thing he did… …was publish an article in the annual newsletter of the International Association of Design. The name of the article is:

“The dignity of a signature.”

My name is mentioned in the article. But much of what he writes… …is about more common industry-wide issues. That article was translated into nine languages. The investigation article "The dark side of stealing title rights in the design industry" by Truong Ky... ...was published in its second year. Fifteen thousand words. The in-depth investigation involved twelve companies. Among them, six designers… …under her urging… …regained their names on their work. Later that series of articles was made into a topic. Thanks to it, Chuong Ky also won the award for Best Investigative Report of the year. Hua Tu Tu is currently… …a senior designer of “Lam Ha Design Space”. She spent three years… …from an intern who knew nothing… …to someone who could independently lead the project. Her plan is not the type that surprises people at first sight. But very solid. Solid details. Customer reviews are always very good. On each of her design works… …the three words “Hua Tu Tu” are always written. Never changed. One time I was reviewing her plan. Flipping to the last page of the design explanation… …discovered a very small drawing at the bottom of the page. A crane. I raised my head to look at her. She smiled a little shyly.

“I just…”

“…find this habit very interesting.”

I said nothing. There are inheritance… …no need to use words to instruct. The news about Tham Hao… …I accidentally learned about it. Last year at a professional event… …someone mentioned him. Said that after leaving the design world… …he went to a small southern city to open an interior decoration company. Don't do design anymore. Only do basic construction and soft furnishing. His name… …no one mentions it anymore in this industry. Not because I forgot. It's because mentioning it makes no sense anymore. A name built on someone else's talent… …after that talent is taken away… …nothing remains. Ha Minh Chau once sent me a WeChat message. It is half a year after the divorce agreement takes effect. She sent a very long paragraph. The idea is that she regrets it. Tell her she's sorry for me. Tell her not to use those three million to insult me. She also said… …Shen Hao lives very hard now. I finished reading. No reply. Some apologies come too late. It's so late that… …even forgiveness no longer makes sense. Today is my thirty-sixth birthday. At seven o'clock in the evening, Le Kha organized a small birthday party for me in the loft of "Nguyen Thach". Not many people came. They are all close friends for many years. Lieu Than brought a very expensive bottle of wine. Diep Dao and Chung Van brought a cake. Tieu Tran and Chu Nhuy went together. He said he'd run over after work. Phuong Khiet also came. Still the same as before. The first sentence as soon as you walk in the door is:

“Happy birthday Ms. Lam Ha!”

Hua Tu Tu is busy decorating the scene. Busy to the point of being sweaty. I stood in front of the apartment's ground-level glass door… …looking at the night scene outside the window. Five years ago… …in this same position… …I received a call from the organizers of the Kim Hac tournament. The city was as bright then as it is now. But at that time… …I was wearing my work uniform… …in the hotel… …with nothing in my hand. And now… …I have my own studio. Have your own team. Have your own customers. Have your own name. The cake on the table was lit with candles. Le Kha called me over to blow out the candles.

“Make a wish.”

I closed my eyes. Think for a few seconds. Then open your eyes… …blow out all the candles in one breath.

“What do you wish for?”

Hua Tu Tu asked.

“Don't tell me.”

She pouted. Phuong Khiet stood next to him, holding up his phone to take a photo.

“Lam Ha, let's smile!”

I looked towards the lens. It's a very relaxed smile. After the party ended in the evening… …I sat alone in the loft. Everyone has gone home. The table was cluttered with cups and glasses. Plates and cutlery were scattered everywhere. I took out the Golden Crane trophy from my bag. Intentionally brought today. The golden body of the trophy reflects a faint light in the dark. Above are engraved the words "Quy Khu". The small text below is extremely clear.

“Designer: Lam Ha.”

I placed the trophy on the table. Then sit down. Take the pencil. Open the sketchbook in front of you. The first outline of the new project… …starts today. The tip of the pencil touches the paper. In the lower right corner… …I drew a tiny crane.