Chapter 3 — The Final Nod

"That's right. But so far it's all been cooperation at the company level. Lam Tri Ha only contacted them in the early stages."

I pressed the speakerphone button. General Manager Vuong's voice rang out.

"General Lam?"

Just those two words. The entire meeting room was even quieter than before.

"General King, it's me."

The other end of the line seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.

"Are you still in charge of Khai Minh? They just sent the contract extension documents over, but the person in charge has been changed. My side doesn't dare to sign."

"You're not there..."

"We will not renew."

Chu Khai Minh's face immediately turned a little whiter. Hua Man quickly spoke up:

"Tong Vuong, I am Hua Man, the new person in charge of raising capital for Khai Minh Tech. In the future, customer care will also be more standardized..."

General Manager Vuong immediately interrupted.

"So standardized that even Tong Lam is no longer there?"

Hua Man was speechless. I looked at Chu Khai Minh. He clenched the pen in his hand, his knuckles turning white. I calmly said to the other end of the line:

"General Vuong, please postpone the contract extension for now."

Chu Khai Minh jumped up from his chair.

"Lam Tri Ha!"

I looked up at him.

"Didn't you say the company doesn't need to rely on me?"

"Then... I'll renew it myself."

The other end of the line was silent for a few seconds. Then General Director Vuong slowly said:

"I understand."

"General Lam, as long as you haven't confirmed..."

"We won't sign."

The call ended. Tham Nghien's assistant gently reminded:

"If An Hop suspends cooperation, Khai Minh Tech's expected revenue this year will decrease by at least half."

Those two words carry more weight than all the self-pity words I've ever said. Chu Khai Minh immediately looked towards Tham Nghien.

"Customers are just having a temporary misunderstanding."

Tham Nghien closed the file.

"General Manager Chu."

"The customer did not renew the contract..."

"It can't be called a misunderstanding."

I looked at Chu Khai Minh and slowly said:

"Customers are not personal relationships."

"They make decisions purely based on commercial interests."

That's what Hua Man just said to me. I didn't change a single word. Simply... return it to them intact. Tham Nghien once again pushed the investment confirmation in front of me.

"Miss Lam, now... are you still willing to confirm this investment?"

Zhou Kaiming stared at me. His eyes changed. It was a warning earlier. Now he's begging me not to say goodbye. But on the outside, he still tries to act tough.

"Tri Ha, if you don't sign today, Khai Minh Tech will truly be finished."

I calmly asked again:

"Just now you said I'm not the founder."

"Now whether the company lives or dies... becomes my problem again?"

Hua Man immediately interjected:

"Miss Lam, more than a few hundred employees are looking at you."

"You can't force them to suffer the consequences because of personal feelings."

I looked at her.

"When the company couldn't pay salaries..."

"They also looked at me."

"Where were you then?"

Hua Man immediately became speechless. I picked up the pen. Chu Khai Minh's shoulders clearly relaxed a bit. He thought I would still sign. Over the past eight years, he's gotten used to me cleaning up all the trouble. Get used to it to the point of forgetting... People will also get tired at times. Last page of confirmation. It was originally a place for me to sign name. But I didn't sign. I wrote down the four-word space. Temporarily not confirmed. The tip of the pen just ended. Chu Khai Minh placed both hands firmly on the table.

"Lam Tri Ha, have you thought carefully?"

I closed the pen cap.

"I've thought about it carefully."

Tham Nghien picked up the confirmation and glanced at it.

"Today's capital call ends here."

In the meeting room, a few deep breaths rang out. Chu Khai Minh quickly chased after him.

"General Vuong... no, General Tham, we can still continue to discuss."

"She's just temporarily losing her temper, I'll handle it."

Tham Nghien stopped walking and turned to look at him.

"General Manager Chu."

"One person can decide whether the company's largest customer renews its contract or not..."

"But in my eyes it's just 'having feelings'..."

"So this investment..."

"We don't even dare to pour."

The door to the meeting room opened. The investors stood up and left one by one. I still sat still in the chair. Only then did Chu Khai Minh turn to look at me. On his face was anger, unwillingness... And a bit of panic that couldn't be hidden.

"Are you satisfied now?"

I picked up my bag.

"It's still early."

He stopped. I looked straight into his eyes, every word was clear.

"Zhu Kaiming."

"What you owe me..."

"It's not just about today's capital call."

Four o'clock in the afternoon. Khai Minh Tech's general chat group completely exploded. Chu Khai Minh took action faster than I thought. He sent a message to the group: Due to Ms. Lam Tri Ha's personal emotional issues, today's capital call had to be postponed. The company will try its best to ensure the rights of all employees. I hope everyone looks at things rationally, don't let personal conflicts affect your judgment. Personal conflicts. He used the same phrase again. Soon, someone in the group spoke up.

"What's going on? Isn't the capital call already guaranteed?"

"Why is Ms. Lam causing trouble at this time?"

"It's not like you can't be a boss so you're turning to trouble, right?"

"What if it affects our salaries?"

"The company is about to grow, now being strangled like this is a bit too much."

Then someone said something even more unpleasant.

"Didn't she really think that just because she shared a few years of hard work and hardship with General Chu, she could split the company?"