Chapter 2 — Lam Du Van

Except for the train ticket, after arriving in the new city, it was enough to last me ten days. After ten days, I still haven't finished thinking about it. But continuing to stay here, even these four hundred and thirty yuan cannot be kept. The next time there is a money mismatch in the house, the first person called into the room will still be me. The sound of the TV came from the living room. My younger brother was showing his mother a picture of the joint venture shoes, and his mother said, "This pair is really beautiful." Her laughter flew out from the room. The whole family was happy and harmonious, the light inside was very warm, and everyone was in their right place. And I'm the one who's always standing on the outside looking in. Hands can reach the surface, but cannot penetrate. In the phone search box, I typed a few words. "What does a person need to prepare when coming to a strange city?" Wednesday morning, my mother suddenly called me in the kitchen. "Du Van, the confirmation of your school's wishes, do you need parents to sign?" I was stunned. She actually remembered. "Yes, the homeroom teacher called and said it would be best to come this week." "Okay, I'll leave tomorrow afternoon." I was stunned for a moment. She wants to go. Don't tell me to ask myself. I stood at the kitchen door, momentarily not knowing what to answer. There was a small mass in my chest that was moving, hot. "Then tell the homeroom teacher." "Yes, tell me." "Thank you mom." This time she even looked at me one more time. "What's there to thank you for?" I returned to the room, texted the homeroom teacher. "Miss Truong, is it convenient for my mother to come to school tomorrow afternoon?" The homeroom teacher quickly replied: "By the way, you'll be waiting in the office at two thirty." I asked. When I put the phone down, a voice in my heart was saying: See, it's not that you don't care, you just don't care. The next day at noon, I deliberately changed into a nice outfit and sat on the living room sofa to wait. One and a half hours. Mom was still in the bedroom and faintly heard the sound of a hair dryer. I stood up and walked to the main bedroom door, gently knocking. "Mom, we should leave, the teacher is waiting for us at two thirty." "Okay, wait a minute." One fifty. She came out of the bedroom. I breathed a sigh of relief in my heart, put on my bag and prepared to change my shoes. At this moment, her room door opened. "Mom, my computer has a blue screen, please help me see what's wrong." Her steps stopped. I also stopped. Her hand was on the shoe cabinet, her body was bending down. "Blue screen? What are you doing with it?" "I don't know, it's already turned on." Her voice carried self-pity. "The instructor has already urged me three times, Mom, can you help me deal with it first?" Mom looked at me. I looked at her. She hesitated for about two seconds. "Du Van, you go first, I will come when I finish handling your sister's computer." "But at 2:30..." "Go over there and tell the teacher an hour ago, I will take a taxi to come right away after finishing it." I finished putting on my shoes, my bag strap was tightly held in my hand. "Then I must definitely come." "Come come come, you go first." She turned and walked into her sister's room. The door closed in front of me. At two fifteen, I arrived at the school gate. I sent my mother a text message: "Mom, I'm here, are you ready to go yet?" "My sister's computer is a bit busy, it might take a while. Just talk to the teacher first." I sent another message: "The teacher is waiting." This message was no longer answered. Twenty-five past two. The sun was very harsh, I looked at my phone again. There are no new messages. I walked into the school gate alone. Ms. Truong raised her head to see me, first smiled, then looked behind me. "Where is your mother?" "My mother... suddenly had something to do and couldn't come." Ms. Truong nodded, pulled out a chair and said: "It's okay, sit down, let's talk first." I sat down. "Are you applying for the university in Hai Thanh?" "Yes." "Three thousand kilometers." Her voice was neither fast nor slow. "Quite far." "The standard score is just enough.

"My score is enough to get into a closer school, the schools in the province are not bad." She folded the chart, put her hands together on the table, looking at me. "Du Van, do you want to go that far, or do you need to go that far?" This sentence was like a very thin needle, stabbing into a place that I had always avoided. Wanting to go and needing to go. Are two different things. "Yes." My voice was lighter than I thought. She did not continue asking. "The last time I won the first prize in writing in the whole city, the district said I could reissue the certificate. She helped me apply. The certificate was reissued by my younger brother. Ms. Truong remembered that no one asked her to do so. She just remembered. A homeroom teacher remembered a student's broken certificate. "Thank you Miss." As I spoke, my throat was a bit choked. "Thank you for what." Ms. Truong smiled a little. "You are the student who makes me feel most secure among the students I have taught, but also the one who hurts me the most." When I left the school, the sun was already tilting towards the west. On the phone, there was a message from my mother. "Are you done yet?" Four words.