Chapter 10 — The Last Word Is Myself

"He is calling the supplier. He has called three parties. Each party says the contract has expired and will not be renewed."

I replied to Mr. Chu:

“How much stock is left in the cold storage?”

“Not enough to withstand the afternoon rush hour.”

Trieu Man leaned his head over to look.

“Has the power cut off so quickly?”

“The suppliers' contracts just expired yesterday.”

“I confirmed that day three months ago.”

Trieu Man put down the bread.

“You started preparing three months ago?”

“From the night I saw the house certificate.”

She looked at me like I was a stranger.

“To Niem Chan.”

“You're really scary.”

Twelve noon. Normally, this should be the busiest time for the eight stores. But today is not normal. Trieu Man's phone rang. It was a colleague who worked near the second store calling.

“Trieu Man, do you know what happened to your friend's restaurant chain?”

“Today I came for lunch and saw a sign outside the door to temporarily suspend business.”

Trieu Man turned on the speakerphone.

"Is that so? I don't really know."

"It's not just one store. I passed by another store that was also closed. Someone posted a question online now."

The call ended. Trieu Man turned to look at me.

“Are all eight stores closed?”

“I guess so.”

“If there are no ingredients, opening the door is just to burn money.”

I opened the local forum on my phone. There have been several posts asking why the chain store suddenly closed. Some regular customers also commented:

"You're not about to go bankrupt, are you? I've been eating the braised meat here for three years."

I looked at that comment. It's a recipe that took me two months to try. The proportion of sauce is accurate to the gram. Co Dinh Phong couldn't even say how many spices this dish had. Two o'clock in the afternoon. Tran Dao called me. This time I picked up the phone. His voice was very low.

“Mr. Phong is crazy.”

“He was destroying things.”

"He asked me to find a supplier. But I asked around and heard that your store... everyone refused to cooperate."

“Sister-in-law, can you tell me clearly…”

“What should we do in the end?”

I leaned back in the chair.

“Tran Dao.”

“How long have you been with Co Dinh Phong?”

He stopped.

“From college until now… almost ten years.”

“Those ten years…”

“Have you ever wondered something?”

“His money…”

“Where did it come from?”

Tran Dao was silent for a long time.

“I understand what you mean.”

“So which side are you on now?”

He didn't answer right away. After five or six seconds, he spoke up.

“Tell me what to do.”

I sat up straight.

“Don't reveal it for now.”

“Continue to stay by his side.”

“Next he will definitely find someone to help fill this hole.”

“Who is he looking for, what is he doing…”

“Report back to me.”

The phone hung up. Trieu Man crossed his arms and looked at me.

“To Niem Chan.”

“Even the person next to him you can pull over.”

I turned off the computer.

“It wasn't me who pulled it.”

“It was Co Dinh Phong himself who pushed people towards me.”

Outside the window, the sun is very beautiful. Mid-November. It's already starting to get cold. But inside my heart... I felt extremely warm again. Co Dinh Phong's reaction was faster than I thought. By the third day, he stopped calling me. But move on to find another path. In the evening, Tran Dao texted me:

“Mr. Phong contacted an intermediary specializing in franchising chain.”

"He wants to use your brand to sign a franchise contract and collect a joining fee to recover capital."

I looked at that message and laughed coldly. He really is a beautiful dreamer. Trademark registrant… Also me. On the morning of the fourth day, the other intermediary called me.

“General To, hello. My name is Chu, I was introduced by President Co."

“He said he wanted to cooperate on franchising. I looked it up, it's you who registered the trademark, so this must be approved by you, right?"

“So the cooperation plan that Mr. Co said…”

“Doesn't exist.”

I replied coldly.

“This brand does not grant rights to anyone.”

“You can answer him directly like that.”

The other end of the line was silent for a moment.

“Okay, I understand. Annoying General To.”

The call ended. Ten minutes later, Tran Dao texted again.

“Mr. Phong broke the phone.”

I don't answer. Continue doing your job. I have chosen the premises for the new store. It's the location listed on that business card. Commercial street in the east of the city. Six hundred square meters. I negotiated with the landlord three times. The third time, the other party proactively reduced the rent by half.

“I know Mistress To's reputation in this world.”

“If you come here and open a store, our whole street will smell a little better.”

I don't talk about this with anyone. Even Trieu Man.