Chapter 10 — Across the Six Meter Line

The next morning, Hong Ha sent three pages of protest. There is no sentence accusing Lightning of cheating. The department only asked to identify the official time source, check the final signal segment and consider the possibility of reorganizing the disputed seconds.

Chi read the protest at the cafe opposite the gymnasium. The shop doesn't play music, just the sound of the ice grinder and spoons hitting the sides of cups. Manh sat opposite, placing his hand on the pad of paper.

“We can say that Hanh's watch is the main source,” he said.

"Maybe."

“So that's enough to keep the results?”

“Not if the pre-match appendix doesn't clearly state the order of priority.”

Manh was silent. The appendix they proposed is only used for finals. In the semi-finals, everyone thought the clock and the electronic board would run together. They did not stipulate what happens when the two sources separate.

Luan arrived late, carrying a computer. He placed it on the table and opened a time table. Hanh arrived later, her hair still wet from the rain.

“I sent the transcript to the organizers,” Hanh said. “They want us to meet at ten o'clock.”

Luan rotates the screen. "There are three milestones that can be determined. The whistle stops at eight seconds, the board shows seven. Then the ball continues. The end-of-play whistle is after the sound of the ball hitting the net, but the distance is not enough to determine whether the ball left the hand."

“So we don't have absolute proof of victory,” Chi said.

“There is unreliable evidence.”

“Two different sentences.”

Luan sighed. “You always make the story more difficult.”

"Because the story is difficult. Saying it's easy doesn't make it right."

The meeting took place in the referee room. Ms. Bich presides, flanked by the main referee, a board technician and representatives of the two teams. Khoa brought a protest. Manh brought the match minutes. Chi sat behind Hanh.

The technician explained that the electronic board may have a signal delay when the control button receives many commands consecutively. He couldn't find any signs of the board jumping up for six seconds. It is possible that the operator mistakenly pressed the time recovery button, but it cannot be confirmed because the controller does not save the operation.

“So could it be human error?” Hong Ha asked.

"Maybe."

“Could it be an equipment error?”

“It's possible.”

Khoa looked at Mrs. Bich. “We cannot use the word ‘maybe’ to choose the finalists.”

Mrs. Bich nodded. “That's why we need a solution.”

Lightning was asked first. Manh stood up. “Our team accepts all decisions in accordance with the regulations, including replaying the entire match.”

One person in the organizing committee asked: "Does the team understand that playing again can cause them to lose the opportunity to enter the final?"

"Have."

“Funding, class schedule, and part-time work schedule of the players?”

Vi raised her hand. "We will make arrangements. But if the result is not determined, the team should not be allowed to continue just because we are the home team."

Khoa looked at Vi, then said: "Hong Ha also accepts a replay. But it needs to be clearly stated that the replay starts from 0-0, not continuing the last eight seconds. Part of the time cannot be confirmed, and if the replay is only eight seconds, the risk remains the same."

The referee asked: "Do you object to the decision to recognize Lightning's goal in the old match?"

Khoa replied: "I object to the conditions under which that decision was made. I don't have enough data to say whether the table is valid or not."

Chi looked up. Khoa's answer didn't help Lightning, but it kept the meeting from slipping into who had the bigger say.

Mrs. Bich gave her ten days off minute. In the hallway, Vi leaned against the window and called the bakery. She asked to change shifts, listened to the other end of the line talk for a long time, then just replied "I understand". Tram sat on the steps, texting her mother that the match would happen again. Vy held an unopened water bottle, turning the cap continuously.

“You don't have to tell everyone that you're okay,” Chi said.

Vy looked at her. “I haven't said anything.”

“I'm turning the lid like I'm about to enter the goal.”

Vy stopped. “I hate that the whole season is decided by one performance.”

"It's not the screen that decides. How we handle it that decides."

“What if the match is lost again?”

“Then Hong Ha continues.”

“Easy for you to say.”

"It's not easy. There's just no other sentence that's more honest."

Vy leaned her back against the wall. "Do you know the scariest thing? I blocked the shot. I remember the ball leaving my hand, I remember seeing it. But if a number said otherwise, people would ask if my memory was trustworthy."

Chi did not tell Vy to forget. "Your memory is a testimony. It is not the entire record."

“So do you believe me?”

"I believe you saw what you said. I won't turn my belief into proof for you."

Vy looked at Chi for a moment then nodded. “Really annoying.”

"YES."

The organizers came back with two options: keep the temporary results and give Hong Ha the right to appeal, or reorganize the entire match in four days. If there is a replay, two independent clocks must be used, the board must be checked before the match, the scorer's table must be recorded and the conditions appendix must be made public. Hanh was proposed to be the main timekeeper; She immediately looked at Chi.

“I don't want you to fix it for me,” Hanh said.

“I don't fix it.”

"I know. But if you sit right behind me, I'll still wait for you to nod."

Please consider. "So you sit on the other side of the table. Hanh takes the timer. Luan checks the board. I can only ask questions when the minutes are written."

Hanh smiled. “Sounds like punishment.”

“It's homework.”

Ms. Bich decided to replay the entire match on Wednesday, at Tan Lap, with the condition that the two teams confirm in writing. Old semi-final results are saved as incident records and are not used to calculate the prize. The team that wins the replay will advance to the final.

When signing the confirmation, Khoa asked Manh: "Are you worried that your team will lose an advantage because we already know how to play each other?"

Manh replied: "Yes. But an unknown match time is not an advantage."

Chi saw two people signing. Khoa's handwriting is straight, Manh's handwriting is bold, both have a pause before putting down the pen.

On the way out, Luan said to Chi: "I will make a new protocol."

“What name?”

“Three watches and one speaker.”

"No. Only one person speaks when there is data. Many watches do not mean many people shouting at the same time."

Luan recorded it. “Three sources, one confirmed.”

"Better."

Chi turned to look at the gym. Four days is not enough to fix the foundation, but it is enough for them to correct the way they enter the battle. No one knows what the replay will pay them. Just know that this time, when the electronic board displays a number, it will no longer be allowed to be the only one listening.

After the replay decision is announced, both teams receive an identical set of documents. It includes a layout of the scorer's table, the name of the timekeeper, how to record the time when the ball is dead, information about the pitch and a blank page for pre-match comments. The blank page makes Vi uncomfortable.

“What if there's nothing to write down?” she asked.

“It's nothing,” Chi replied.

“Isn't that empty?”

“Drums are also information if you have it responsibility has looked.”

Vi took a pen and wrote: "The substitution area has enough chairs, the floor is not wet." She added her name below. The brooch says “joint A-3 has been checked, there are other colors.” Hong Ha's department recorded "mechanical clock visible from the technical area." The two teams use the same language, even though they do not share the same goals.

The organizers held a test run without spectators. The two teams enter the field, only passing the ball lightly. The electronic board is set to 30:00. Hanh stands as the main timer, Luan controls, and another technician stands and observes. Chi sat outside with Diep.

“If the table is wrong right now, should the match be canceled?” Diep asked.

“Not necessarily. But you have to know where it went wrong before starting.”

They ran the test eight times. Six duplicates. Twice the board was less than a second slow. Luan opened the controller cover and discovered a loose contact. The technician tightened it and tried again. No one said “it's okay” until there were ten matches.

Faculty review checklist. “Why ten times?”

“Once right only proves once right,” Luan said.

“Did you think of it yourself?”

"Are not. I was taught by the board.”

Khoa smiled, then wrote down the number ten in the team's notebook.

While waiting for the board to be fixed, Manh let his players practice without the ball. Tram must catch an imaginary pass, maintain a position outside the line, turn and signal the direction of the pass. The song had no sound from the audience, but she was still stressed. Khoa stood opposite, not touching.

“You don't need to push me to make me scared,” Tram said.

“I know.”

“So why do you keep looking?”

“Because you're looking at the line more than you're looking at the ball.”

Tram tried again. This time she did not bend down. She received the fake ball, kept her foot, and released it to Vi. Khoa runs along the pass. Manh clapped his hands.

“Fear doesn't make you weak,” Chi said. “But looking at the wrong thing will slow you down.”

Tram asked: "Have you ever looked wrong?"

"So many."

“Was there a memorable time?”

Chi looked at the six meter line. “One time I looked at the goal and thought I just needed to block the ball and that would be it. You don't look at the background."

Tram did not ask further. She continued practicing, this time looking at both the ball and the field.

At the table, Hanh and Khoa debated about the minutes form. Hanh wants the column "person reporting the difference", Khoa wants to add "team has been notified". The organizers asked if many columns would cause slow recording.

“A little delay is better than no data,” Hanh said.

“But the match cannot be stopped because of every line,” the technician replied.

Chi did not intervene. Hanh explains herself: “Not every line needs to be read aloud. Just score after the ball is dead. If there is no danger, the match continues.”

Khoa nodded. “My team agrees. We don't want to turn paper into a lingering excuse.”

Chi realized that Hanh had changed from being afraid of doing wrong to knowing how to distinguish what is important.

At noon, the two teams eat in two different areas, but share the same kitchen. Hong Ha's Ha Chau accidentally took Vi's rice tray by mistake. The two looked at each other, then switched back. Vi asked her if her wrist hurt after the previous match. Ha Chau said it was a bit swollen. Vi shows how to wrap the bandage. No one asked “do you think my team won”.

When Diep called Chi to sign the list of floor observers, Chi saw her name in the "technical support" line. She asked if it was necessary to clearly state that she did not participate in professional decisions.

Diep handed over the pen. “If you want to write it down, write it down.”

Please add that sentence. Not to avoid responsibility, but so that other people's responsibilities don't fall on her shoulders.

The test run ends with a short meeting. Dear Mrs. Bich Ask each captain to say an indispensable condition.

Khoa: “Time must have an independent source.”

Vy: “Athletes are warned of underlying risks.”

Hanh: “The timekeeper has the right to say the difference.”

Luan: “The board must have operation marks.”

Diep: “Someone must check every floor stain.”

Manh: "The team does not explain itself for the referee."

Chi said last: "Do not use the word 'pass' without saying what it is for, for how long and under what conditions."

Ms. Bich recorded it. A rematch date has been placed on the calendar. Four days ago, they wanted to know who was right in six seconds. Now, they are forced to answer dozens of other questions before being allowed to find the results again.