Chapter 6 — Try Loving Me

His company is not large, only a dozen people, but manages capital of several hundred million. I discovered this one time when I went to the company to wait for him to get off work. The receptionist looked at me with very strange eyes, as if looking at a rare creature.

“Are you Ms. To?”

“Yes.”

“Boss Luc has never let anyone wait at the company before.”

“Boss Luc?”

“…”

“Don't you know this is his company?”

It's true that I don't know. I just know you

“make an investment”

,

“enough”

. His office is on the top floor, and when he pushed the door open he was in a video conference with someone else. Seeing me, he nodded slightly, signaling me to sit. I sat on the sofa in the office, looking around—an entire wall of books, on a whiteboard filled with company names and numbers, some of which I knew. They are all unicorn businesses, meaning startups valued at over 1 billion USD that have appeared in the news. At the end of the video meeting, he closed his computer and walked over.

“What are you looking at?”

“Those companies that write on whiteboards…”

“Is it all your investment?”

“Some.”

“Just how rich are you?”

He thought.

“That's enough.”

“Old lesson again.”

“You want to know the specific number?”

“…”

“Forget it, I'm afraid that if I find out, I'll cling to you even tighter.”

“Isn't it enough that I'm sticky now?”

“You can stick around more.”

He took his coat: "Let's go, let's eat." As I walked out the company door, the receptionist waved to me: "Bye, Miss To!" I turned back and waved goodbye. It wasn't until I got in the car that I realized — the way she looked at me wasn't the same

“look at rare creatures”

, which is

“look at the lady”

. My face turned slightly red. On the 40th day of falling in love, Bach Nhuoc He appeared again. It wasn't aimed at me — she came to Chu Ngon to borrow her connections. Chu Ngon's company has a project that needs to find investors, and she wants to be the person in the middle of the connection. But during the party she kept mentioning Luc Tu.

"Mr. Tu hasn't responded to messages lately, is it because he's busy?"

“Last time I tried to find him to discuss the project but he didn't even pick up the phone.”

“Are you being strictly controlled by your girlfriend to prevent contact with the opposite sex?”

Lam Noan Noan kicked me under the table. I put down my chopsticks and smiled.

“Bach Nhuoc He.”

She looked over.

“If you have any business, just send your work email directly to his company, the receptionist will forward it to you.”

“Mr. Tu and I are friends—”

“Friends and working via work email do not conflict.”

“He's busy with work, has very little private time, don't take up his time after work.”

The whole table fell silent. Chu Ngon picked up the glass of wine and secretly gave it a thumbs up. Bach Nhuoc He smiled wryly and said nothing more. At the end of the party, Lam Noan Noan pulled me into her car.

“To Niem Niem, when did you become so foul-mouthed?”

“Being forced out.”

"In the past, Trieu Dinh stole your credit and you didn't even say a word, now you dare to block Bach Nhuoc He's throat in front of so many people."

“Human beings, we have to grow up.”

“Who taught you to be an adult?”

I thought for a bit.

"Luc Tu didn't teach me what to say, he just gave me the feeling..."

“No matter what I say, someone will back me up.”

Lam Noan Noan shook her head and smiled: "Done, done, from now on you don't need me anymore Already."

“There is no such thing!”

“Noan Noan will forever be ranked number 1!”

"Stop it, your boyfriend is ranked number 1, I'll move back to line two."

“Then you rank 1.5.”

She smacked me. The second month of dating, Trieu Dinh quit his job. Before leaving, he sent a very long message to the department group, basically saying:

"Thank you everyone for your help all the time"

etc. No one answered. I don't rap either. Finally, he texted me privately.

“Nim, wish you happiness.”

I looked at it for 3 seconds, then deleted it. It is not necessary to answer. The day he left, I was working overtime at the company — this time working on my own project, not wiping someone else's ass. Worked until 7:30 when Luc Tu texted.

“Go downstairs.”

I leaned out the window and looked down, his car was parked on the side of the road, he was leaning against the car door dialing his phone. The streetlights shone on him, just like a movie scene. I packed up my things and ran downstairs, jumping in front of him on all three legs.

“Why did you come here?”

"I didn't say I'm working overtime."

“After 6 hours you didn't send any messages, which is unusual.”

“So you ran all the way here?”

“Convenient.”

“Your company and my company are half a city apart.”

He opened the passenger door: "Get in the car." I smiled brightly and crawled inside.

“Luc Tu.”

“Yes.”

"I don't say it with my mouth, but I actually care about you a lot."

He started the car but did not respond. But the fingers on the steering wheel moved slightly. I just assumed he was the default. In the third month of falling in love, something big happened. My project is having problems. It wasn't because I messed up — it was because the customer suddenly changed the person in charge, and this new person in charge requested a completely opposite direction from my previous plan, and started over and over again. Ms. Phuong called me in to talk: "Tieu To, the customer asked for a new plan next Monday, can you handle it?" Today is Thursday.

"Miss Phuong, I will try."

“It's not a test, it's mandatory.”

“If this project is lost, our entire fourth quarter will be affected.”

Stepping out of her office, my head was pounding. Three days, re-doing a plan for an entire quarter. Thursday night I work overtime until 11pm. Friday night whitening. At 5 a.m. Saturday morning, I collapsed on my desk and fell asleep. When I was woken up by the air conditioning wind, my neck was stiff and I couldn't move. There are dozens of unread messages on the phone. All belong to Luc Tu.

“Have you eaten yet?”

“To Niem Niem.”

“Are you at the company?”

“Reply the message.”

"I called you and you didn't answer."

"To Niem Niem, I'll reply to your message right away."

The last message was 20 minutes ago: “I'm coming to pick you up.” I quickly texted back: "Yes!"

“Just woke up after staying up all night!”

“Don't come, I'm not done yet.”

He replied lightning fast: "I'm down the hall." I... I crawled onto the table and lay motionless for 3 seconds, then stood up, holding my sore neck, and went to the bathroom to wash my face. The person in the mirror had dark circles like a panda, and his hair was messy like a ghost. When he ran downstairs, he was leaning on the hood of the car, carrying a bag. Seeing me, he frowned.

“What time do you go to bed?”

“About…”

“3, 4 hours or something?”

“I don't remember clearly anymore.”

He stuffed the bag into my hand. Porridge, dumplings, a carton of milk.

“Eat breakfast first Satisfied."

“I have to go back to making a plan—”

“Eat breakfast first.”

His tone was not too harsh, but there was absolutely no room for negotiation. I leaned against his car and finished my breakfast. The porridge is still hot, I'm sure he'll drive here after buying it.

“How much more are you missing?”

After eating, I asked him.

“What?”

“That plan.”

“How much is missing?”

“About…”

“40%.”

“Which field do your customers work in?”

“The new consumer industry.”

He nodded, took out his phone and scrolled a few times.

“What is the name of the person in charge of your customer side?”

“Duong Minh Vien.”

He scrolled a few more times and sent a message.

“What are you doing?”

I looked at him warily.

“Help me find out what this person's interests are.”

“Do you know me?”

“Not familiar, but someone familiar.”