Chapter 15 — Tomorrow's Kitchen

Vy hung the debt book on the information board at nine o'clock in the morning, after covering up the names of those who had not agreed to make it public.
She did not write down each item. She divided them into four groups: customers with long-term debt, meal budgets, unpaid wages, and late payment for raw materials from suppliers. Next to each group is the total amount, expected deadline and how the shop will handle it.
The largest line reads: “Total obligation is not an amount that can be kept quiet.”
Khoi stood next to him and felt his stomach tighten. He knew the board would be controversial. But he also knows that over the past few months, people have entered the Kitchen House with unnamed debts.
Lan's mother asked: "Do we need to hang it right on the door?"
“If you leave it in the storage room, only the person who does it will know.”
“Customers may think the restaurant is going bankrupt.”
“The shop is in danger.”
Lan's mother looked at her daughter. “Have you asked the people whose names?”
Vy pointed to the covered area. "Those who agree, please write down. Those who don't, just write in the group."
“But people are still guessing.”
“Guessing is not as dangerous as no one knowing the real debt.”
Mr. Sau came and read the board from top to bottom. “Why doesn't I have money to fix the fan?”
“You don't accept money.”
“But that's merit.”
Vy gave him an agreement. “If you want to write it down, you must write down the time and conversion rate.”
Mr. Sau scratched his head. “I just want everyone to know that the fan doesn't run naturally.”
"So the public note is a contribution, not considered a debt."
Mr. Sau nodded. “Just write my name down.”
“Would you like someone else to take the same job?”
"Have."
“So write clearly.”
The table is open when the restaurant is crowded. The first customer glanced at it and asked if the meal fund was charity. Vy explained that people can buy the fund for others to use, regardless of who receives it. A young woman asked if she ever owed money to the shop, where to pay it.
Vy gave her a code. "If you want to pay, write down this code. No need to say it in front of everyone."
Woman holding paper, red eyes. “I'm still one hundred and eighty thousand short.”
“We know.”
“Does Lan's mother write down my name?”
"Are not."
“Why not?”
“Because it's your information.”
The woman put one hundred thousand in the collection box and said the remainder would be left at the end of the month. Vy makes a receipt and records the date. No one clapped.
Khoi sees it more correctly. A person who pays his debts does not need to become a touching story to be respected.
At noon, a guest raised his voice in front of the board. He said the shop was stigmatizing the poor, even though his name was not there. Vy calmly asked if he saw any violation of privacy. He pointed to the total amount owed by the customer.
“Everyone knows how much they add up, so what's the point?”
“To know how much money the shop has used as informal credit.”
“If the shop gives you a debt, the shop must bear it.”
"True. But eaters also need to know that their food does not exist naturally."
Khoi stepped forward, afraid that Vy would be alone. Mr. Sau stopped him.
"Let her talk. She's the bookkeeper."
Vy asked the customer: "If the shop doesn't allow debt anymore, would you like it?"
He was silent. He once fixed Lan's mother's bangs, but that's not something that needs to be talked about.
“I want the shop to live,” he said.
“So we have to know the price of giving others time.”
He read the board one more time then sat down to order food. Vy did not ask if he had ever been in debt.
In the afternoon, the spreadsheet is updated. The amount of money returned during the day was higher than expected, but the wages of Ha, Linh and other seasonal workers were clearly recorded, so profits decreased. Khoi said that was a good sign.
Vy replied: "A good sign does not leave the account surplus."
“But it makes us know what we are really missing.”
“You can say this when you get paid.”
Khoi laughed. “I'll say it again.”
Lan's mother received a call from a woman who used to work at the shop, and has now moved provinces. She asked if she could pay off old debt by buying fund shares for workers. Vy said yes, but must clearly state that they are two different amounts: debt repayment and fund closing.
“Why should we separate?” Khoi asked.
"In order not to use charity money to cover the debt. If the separation is not clear, we will build a beautiful story on fuzzy data."
Khoi nodded. Vy says things like that when she works, but since opening the debt sheet, she seems lighter. Not because the amount was reduced, but because it no longer had to be in her head alone.
In the evening, Dung came to take pictures of the board. She asked why the shop publicizes its obligations but not its profits. Vy gave weekly reports, hiding personal account numbers and supplier information that she did not agree with.
“Profits this week are negative,” Dung said.
"Correct."
“This article will make customers worry.”
“Customers have the right to worry before contributing money.”
Dung asked Lan's mother: "Do you regret giving debt to customers?"
Lan's mother replied after a while: "There are times when I regret not having rules. I don't regret giving someone food when they need it."
“What if the shop is in danger of closing?”
“The fault lies in my forcing a small shop to take on a big task with one person's money.”
Dung did not ask further.
After the article, a group of people came to offer to contribute capital. They carried small envelopes, ranging from five hundred thousand to five million. Vy did not accept immediately. She handed out an agreement form, explaining that capital contributions are risky, there is no guarantee of a refund, and there is no way to make your own decisions.
One man said: “I just want to help.”
Vy replied: "Helping shouldn't make you lose money without understanding."
That person read it and said he would discuss it with his wife.
Two people signed immediately after, each a small amount. They don't want their names to appear on the board. Vy gave the receipt.
Khoi asked: "Can I use this money to pay Binh?"
Vy said: "Only if the agreement allows and Binh agrees."
Binh stood by the door, hearing that. “I need money for groceries, but I don't want the shop to take contributions from others to clear old debts without telling me.”
Khoi said: "So write down the bridge capital fund, separate from revenue."
Vy set up a separate account. She sat until evening writing the rules. Lan's mother brought her rice, but Vy did not eat.
“I don't want to be the last to know,” Vy said.
Lan's mother sat next to her. “I'm sorry.”
"Mom apologized for the loan, Khoi apologized for the recipe, Ha apologized for stopping the dish. Everyone apologized. I want everyone to ask me once before deciding."
Lan's mother nodded. “So from now on, I'll ask.”
"I'm really asking, I'm not asking and still doing what I want."
“Mom will practice.”
Vy looked at the debt table. “I don't know if I can keep the shop.”
“Neither mom.”
“Aren't you scared, Mom?”
"Afraid. But if you hide your fear, fear will decide for you."
A week later, Bep Nha had a small meeting with capital contributors and employees. Each person is given a copy of the rules. Including the minimum fund level, repayment schedule, right to inspect goods, right to stop orders, how to credit, how to handle debts from customers and how to withdraw from the model.
Khoi read the last item. If the shop does not comply with the schedule within three months, the capital contributor has the right to request a meeting but is not allowed to arbitrarily take the assets. If an employee leaves, the recipe they contributed will still retain their name and the restaurant will only be used within the agreed scope.
Ha said: "This section needs a way to cancel usage rights."
Khoi added.
Man sent an email during the meeting, announcing that his pilot store would use the name "Home Kitchen — Tomorrow's Rice". The logo features a roof and a pot. He didn't use the exact old logo, but the words were so close that customers could mistake it.
Vy read and said: "Is this competition or violation?"
Khoi replied: "You have to ask a lawyer."
Lan's mother looked at the word "Tomorrow's Rice". “Where does this guy come from?”
“Min ordered it himself.”
“No. From the blue book.”
Khoi remembers the line his mother wrote: "Tomorrow if there is no more fish, cook eggs." Dung once heard them talking about tomorrow in an interview. Maybe Man got it from there.
Khoi did not call immediately. He wanted to know what right they had to an idea that had been spoken about publicly.
Hanh, a lawyer, looked at the notice and said: "A trade name that is similar needs to prove the possibility of confusion. But first you must read the trademark registration file, time and scope."
Vy asked: "What if you can't sue?"
"It is possible to submit a request to stop causing confusion, or change the identification strategy. The law does not protect the feeling of having a story taken away if the rights have not been recorded."
Khoi heard the last sentence. They spent days writing down the names of the contributors, but the trademark is still in Lan's mother's name and can be transferred to another party.
In the evening, Khoi went through the debt board. Under the total amount, someone wrote in chalk:
"DEBT IS NOT A PROMISE. DEBT IS A SCHEDULE THAT MUST BE FOLLOWED."
He asked who wrote it. Vy said she didn't know.
Lan's mother told her to write.
Khoi looked at her. “Where do you remember this word from?”
"From your father. He always said don't label anyone as a bad person when they're just one day short of payment."
“But some people deliberately do not pay.”
“So that's correct.”
That day, Bep Nha was not richer. The shop only has a public debt board, a jar of bridge capital, a few knowledgeable contributors and a family that speaks less for each other.
When everyone left, Khoi saw a white envelope on the warehouse door. Inside was a copy of the brand mortgage contract, with an addendum they had never read.
The appendix states: if the borrower violates the payment schedule, the lender has the right to approve or reject any changes in brand name, business model and formula usage rights.
Below is Lan's mother's signature.
But the day the annex was signed happened after the flood, right when Ha said in the tape that everyone had rebuilt the kitchen.
Khoi held the paper and heard the sound of the fan on the porch. The name Bep Nha could not only be bought by Man.
It's still being held by a contract that no one in the shop knows when they signed.