Chapter 15 — When I Stop Being Invisible

"Ms. To - no, Boss To, I heard about the contract extension. Ms. Trieu said she was able to keep all three customers alone."

"It's not just me. The plan was developed and implemented by the Thuy Hoa team thanks to the coordination of the departments. I'm just the one who says what needs to be said."

“But customers… only trust you.”

I don't answer. That's the truth. Customers do not trust the company. They believe in people. That is also the most important lesson I learned in twelve years in Hang Vien. That night, I worked until nine o'clock at night. Sitting in Ha Kien Quoc's office, reading the monthly reports of all departments. On the table there is a photo of his family. Wife, son, and a Golden Dog. It took this man twenty years to build Hang Vien from a small office into a company of three hundred people. He is not a bad person. Not really a good boss either. Just... too used to handing over things I don't want to manage to others, then believing that everything is still running smoothly. I put the photo back in its original position. As soon as I stood up, the phone rang. Co Vien Chu.

“Miss To, Chu Han has a new move.”

“What?”

"He and Phuong Ngan hired the same team of lawyers. They were preparing to sue Hang Vien for illegally unilaterally terminating the labor contract. At the same time, they also threatened to report the company's financial problems to the management agency."

“What financial problem?”

"He said that in the past few years, He Kien Quoc had some tax practices that were not in accordance with regulations."

"Really?"

"There are some historical issues. Not necessarily serious violations, but if exposed, it would cause big trouble."

I tightened my grip on the phone. After being dealt with, he still refused to give up and came back to bite back.

“Mr. Co, how do you plan to handle this matter?”

“I need your help with something.”

“That list of issues you have in your hand—that copy of over three hundred items—does it contain any records of these historical financial matters?”

I was stunned.

“How do you know I have a problem list?”

"Miss To, someone who worked at a company for twelve years and managed eight departments, there's no way you wouldn't have recorded anything. I bet you have."

I was silent for a few seconds.

"Yes. But not fully. I'm not a financial person, I can only record the irregularities I see."

"That's enough. I need you to summarize those records along with the corresponding original documents. Not to attack Hang Vien, but to defend. If Chu Han denounces, we must have a backup plan."

“I understand. Give me three days.”

After hanging up the phone, I took out the list from the computer. Three hundred and twelve entries. Twelve years. I never thought I would use this one day. When I wrote it, it was simply a professional habit - when I see a problem, I write it down, even if no one asks. Unexpectedly, that smallest habit has now become the most important weapon. Three days later, I handed over all the compiled documents to Co Vien Chu. After reading it, he sat silently in Hang Vien's conference room for twenty minutes.

“Miss To, the value of this list… surpasses the audit report that Hang Vien hires every year.”

“Mr. Co, I have suggested it several times over the past few years, but no one paid attention.”

“Who doesn't notice?”

“I proposed three times to optimize the process to the administrative manager, he said it was none of my business. I told Mr. Vuong in finance about a more effective way to reconcile the books. He said there was no direction from his superiors. I reminded Ms. Trieu to periodically update the event backup supplier list, she said doing so was troublesome."

Co Vien Chu looked at me.

“Then why don't you tell Ha Kien Quoc directly?”

“Because I am an administrative specialist. An administrative specialist will not go above and beyond to find the CEO to discuss management issues.”

“But she still silently recorded more than three hundred entries.”

“It's just a professional habit.”