Chapter 15 — Anonymous Drawing

The thirty-floor hall of Kien Nguyen Group overlooks the panoramic view of Truc Giang city through floor-to-ceiling glass walls, morning sunlight pouring in to illuminate the vast space. Dieu Linh arrived thirty minutes earlier than the appointment time, carrying a briefcase containing large drawings and a hard drive containing presentation files. Her hands shook slightly as she gave her identification card to the receptionist to check.

She waited in the lobby area, trying to breathe evenly to calm herself, her eyes scanning the four other presentation groups preparing documents at the surrounding round tables - all of them were unfamiliar faces, representing other large and small architectural offices that had also reached the final round. The competitive atmosphere is tense but still maintains the professional politeness often seen in the architectural world.

Looking through the glass wall, she could see the whole panorama of Truc Giang city stretching out below, the rooftops were close together, the small roads were crisscrossed like blood vessels, and in the distance, even though she couldn't see clearly, she knew that somewhere in that line of sight was Cay Gon alley, where her mother still sold sticky rice every morning despite her old age. The feeling of standing at this height, looking down at the poor neighborhood she grew up in, made her feel both proud of what she had achieved and also see a difference that was hard to put into words, as if she was standing between the boundaries of two worlds that had never truly been in harmony.

She checked the presentation files on her laptop one last time, flipped through each slide, rehearsed the opening of the presentation in her head, trying not to let her mind wander to anything other than the task at hand. But the more she tried to control it, the faster her heart beat as the waiting time became shorter and shorter.

At exactly nine o'clock, an organizer stepped out and invited the group from Uncle Huan's office - today only Dieu Linh represented the presentation, because Uncle Huan was busy with another meeting and could not make it in time - into the large meeting room. Dieu Linh walked through the glass door, her heart pounding, and the moment she raised her head to look towards the judges' table, she saw him.

Khoi Nguyen sat at the end of the table, slightly separated from the five main judges sitting in the middle, the right position for the investor representative - who only observed, had no right to score. He wore a dark gray suit, his hair was neatly cut, he sat straight and calm, different from the image of the skinny student she used to know, but his eyes, when meeting her gaze, still retained the confused, sincere look she had seen under the cotton tree years ago.

The two stood still for such a long moment that the chairman of the jury - a veteran architect named Lam Viet Hoa, invited to be an independent judge - had to remind them.

"Let the office representative take a seat, let's begin the presentation," he said, not realizing the tension that had just occurred.

Dieu Linh awkwardly walked to the presentation position, trying to avoid looking straight at Khoi Nguyen. Her hands shook as she plugged the hard drive into the projector. She took a deep breath, reminding herself of why she was here — not to confront the past, but to present a design proposal she had poured her heart and soul into over the past three weeks.

"Greetings to the jury," she began, her voice, though shaky at first, growing steadier with each sentence. "I am Chu Dieu Linh, representative of Phung Gia Huan architectural office, would like to present the design plan for the Ben Cu Community Cultural House project."

She showed the overall drawing, explained the idea of a central skylight across three floors, analyzed the flow of natural light according to each time frame of the day, and presented a flexible space layout plan for each user - children, the elderly, and community groups. She talked about the field survey, about the answer of the old lady selling water under the almond tree, about the real needs of the people in the area that she believes her plan best meets.

Khoi Nguyen sat quietly at the end of the table, his eyes never leaving each presentation slide, and the more he listened, the more he realized a coincidence that made his chest tighten - not only was the idea of the skylight directly reminiscent of "Tree Gon House" from years ago, but also the way Dieu Linh talked about architecture, about listening to the real needs of users before putting pen to paper, almost a more mature, perfect version of the principles the two of them once discovered together under the tree. gon in tenth grade.

"Ms. Dieu Linh," another judge asked after the presentation ended, "how do you calculate the cost of building this skylight to ensure it does not exceed the budget? This is quite an expensive item if using standard materials."

"I suggest using three-layer insulated polycarbonate panels instead of standard tempered glass," Dieu Linh replied, her voice confident, flipping to the detailed calculation slide she had prepared. "This material reduces costs by about thirty percent compared to tempered glass, while still ensuring durability of over twenty years and better insulation, suitable for the tropical climate of the region."

The judge nodded, took notes on the scoring sheet, and seemed satisfied with the answer. Architect Lam Viet Hoa, sitting in the chair, also nodded in approval.

"Your plan is carefully prepared, both in terms of concept and technical feasibility," he commented. "I was especially impressed with the way she integrated field surveys into the design process, which is something not every office does seriously."

During the question and answer session, Khoi Nguyen did not ask any questions, following the principle he had set for himself - not to interfere in the professional grading process. But when the presentation was almost over, he couldn't help but raise his hand to ask the chairman's permission to say a short sentence, as the investor's representative.

"I just want to say one more thing, not related to grading," he said, trying to keep his voice calm even though his eyes still did not leave Dieu Linh. "The name 'Old Wharf' of this project, I gave it because it is associated with a personal memory of mine, about a place that once taught me what truly meaningful architecture is. Listening to your plan today, I believe, no matter what the final result, that spirit has been fully conveyed."

That sentence, although expressed discreetly, made Dieu Linh pause for a second, her heart pounding when she realized the layer of meaning hidden behind each word. She didn't respond, just nodded slightly in thanks according to common courtesy, then quickly packed up the documents and left the meeting room as soon as the presentation officially ended, not giving herself another second to face his eyes directly.

Going out to the hallway, she stood leaning against the wall, exhaled a long breath, feeling her whole body tremble as if she had just gone through a battle more difficult than any professional presentation she had ever participated in. She didn't know whether her plan would be enough to win the bid, but she knew one thing for sure: no matter the outcome, this meeting had revived all the emotions she thought she had successfully buried for the past eight years.

In the meeting room, after the door closed behind Dieu Linh, Khoi Nguyen still sat still for a long time, his hand gripping the pen on the table so tightly that his knuckles turned slightly white. Architect Lam Viet Hoa, when packing up grading documents, glanced at him and noticed a strange expression on his face.

"Does Mr. Nguyen know the architect just now?" he asked, his voice curious but not probing.

"Yes, we've known each other for a long time," Khoi Nguyen replied, trying to keep his voice calm. "But I would like to assure the panel that this personal acquaintance does not affect the objectivity of the scoring process. I fully respect the decision of the judging panel."

"I don't worry about that," Mr. Viet Hoa smiled lightly and nodded in agreement. "Her plan itself is convincing enough, no need for anyone to be biased. I have judged hundreds of large and small projects over decades in the profession, rarely seeing a profile that is both technically solid and has such emotional depth."

That comment made Khoi Nguyen somewhat relieved, not because he doubted Dieu Linh's ability, but because he understood that if she won the bid, he wanted to make sure it was entirely due to her strength, not involving any favors from his side - the only thing he could do now to start redeeming his old mistakes, even though the road ahead, he knew, was still very long, bumpy and uncertain of where it would go.