Chapter 8 — The Dignity of a Signature

Tham Hao was silent for about three seconds. Then he made a decision. He adjusted his vest collar, turned around and walked quickly towards the center of the hall, straight to the stage and raised his hand to signal to the MC for a microphone. MC hesitated for a few seconds but eventually gave it to him. Tham Hao turned to face the entire hall. A familiar polite smile appeared on his face again.

“Dear guests, I am very sorry for the recent incident.”

“Perhaps during the remote connection process, Mr. Phuong misunderstood some technical information.”

His voice is very steady. Attitude is also extremely sincere.

“The work ‘Quy Khu’ was indeed completed by our company team in the form of collaboration.”

“Different designers are in charge of different stages.”

"Lam Ha is a member of the team. She participated in some of the groundwork in the early stages."

“But the core idea and the final finished version were both completed independently by Hua Tu Tu.”

Chatter began to sound below. Livestream comments are also divided into two camps.

“Sounds reasonable, big companies now work in teams.”

“The first hundred and thirty copies are called ‘foundation work’?”

“Wake up, in the design industry, whoever makes the first draft is the main designer.”

“Don't try to erase it anymore, the timestamp is lying there.”

Tham Hao continued:

“Our company always attaches great importance to talent training.”

“Even though Hua Tu Tu is young, her talent and efforts are clear to everyone.”

“As for file data, perhaps the collaboration platform account management is not strict enough, leading to misunderstandings.”

“In the future, the company will be more complete in terms of processes.”

He speaks very fluently. The argument is also clear. If it weren't for Phuong Tri Vien still appearing on the big screen... If it weren't for those timestamp photos being saved by the livestream audience... Maybe this "firefighting" scene would really have passed. But Phuong Tri Vien never disconnected. He quietly listened to Tham Hao's explanation. Then he spoke up:

“Mr. Tham Hao.”

“What is the so-called ‘foundation work’ you just mentioned… specifically?”

The smile on Tham Hao's face remained unchanged:

“For example, early-stage market surveys, organizing ideas, collecting references…”

“Then I want to ask you one more question.”

Phuong Tri Vien calmly interrupted.

“Why do those 'foundational works' include complete design sketches, color schemes, space models, material selection, construction implementation plans..."

“…is there even three rounds of revisions according to customer feedback?”

Right after that sentence— The image on the big screen changed again. This time it is no longer a file management interface. It's that each design sketch is opened consecutively. In the lower right corner of each drawing... there is a small hand-drawn crane. That's my signature. Phuong Tri Vien says:

“These sketches are extracted directly from the original file.”

“Each copy has its creation time and corresponding operator information.”

“From the first concept to the final construction implementation…”

“The design logic is completely seamless.”

“The style is completely unified.”

“The creator… there is only one.”

His voice never grew louder. But every word is as clear as nailed into the air.

“I have been a design judge for over thirty years.”

“I saw a lot of different forms of collaboration.”

“But I have never seen any kind of ‘collaboration’ where one person completes the entire task from 0 to 100…”

“…and the other person only edits page margins and file format…”

“…then used the name of an independent creator to receive the gold award.”

In the entire hall, no one spoke. Tham Hao stands on stage. The microphone was still in his hand. But clearly… He couldn't think of what to say next. The number of livestream viewers jumped from two hundred thousand to six hundred thousand. On real-time hot search, the topic "Controversy about signing the Golden Crane Award" has climbed straight to the top 3. Hua Tu Tu is still sitting at the main table. His face was pale. Lips pursed tightly. The spot next to her is already vacant. Tham Hao is standing on stage, no one is blocking her anymore. The guests at the table all unconsciously pulled their chairs a little further away from her. Like being afraid of getting caught in something unclean. At this moment, a temporary employee ran onto the stage and leaned close to Tham Hao's ear to whisper a few words. His expression immediately changed. It's no longer unsightly. But completely pale. He lowered his head to look at the phone. Lips trembled slightly. Then suddenly turned backstage. I could read his lips. He said: My phone vibrated again. This is a message Phuong Khiet sent to:

“Assistant Lam… there are a lot of reporters outside, the security is about to be unable to stop them anymore.”

I did not reply to that message. I walked out from the wings. Step by step walk towards the center of the stage. Still wearing the black uniform with the word "Officer" printed on it. Not fast. Not slow either. All the following lights moved at the same time with me. Tham Hao stared at me. I walked in front of him and stopped. Then put your hand out.

“General Shen.”

I calmly said:

“Give me the microphone.”

His hands are shaking. I didn't wait for him to react, I directly took the microphone from his hand. Then turn around. Opposite the entire hall. The light shined straight down on my face, so bright it was blinding. Hundreds of gazes below were watching me. Phuong Tri Vien on the big screen was looking at me. Six hundred thousand people in the livestream were also looking at me.