Chapter 11 — Late Table Lady

One hundred thousand dong for a whole week sounds like the name of a contest, and An officially participated on Monday. She posted a spending calendar next to her desk, dividing the money into seven small envelopes. On the first envelope write “bus”, on the second “breakfast”, on the third “backup”, on the last envelope write “do not open before Saturday”.

By noon, the breakfast envelope was half thin because An mistakenly bought bread with eggs and rolls. The clerk looked at her with pity as she stood counting the change.

“Do you want to remove the rolls?”

“I already took it.”

“Then next time ask the price first.”

An nodded. This sentence is becoming a catchphrase of the whole city.

In class, Khang gave her a cafeteria menu with prices written down. “Which dish is the most filling in thirty thousand, which dish only looks good in pictures, which dish should be avoided on Friday.”

“What's on Friday?”

“Braised fish is usually saltier because Ms. Dung is running out of sugar.”

“Do you have statistics?”

“I ate there for three years.”

Huy chimed in: “Khang has heat maps of every food stall.”

An held the paper. “You write with a pencil, what if it rains?”

“I have a copy in my head.”

That day's class was interrupted by a small incident: the donation box for the project disappeared from the teacher's desk. In the box there was only one hundred and seventy thousand lemonade sales, but that was money the whole class contributed. Teacher Hoang asked everyone to stay and search.

Like making a list of people who have been in and out of class. Huy wanted to search his bag, but Teacher Hoang immediately refused. Khang checked the hallway camera, but the angle was covered by a pillar. An looked at the empty box and felt his heart beat fast. If she paid for it herself, the matter would end quickly, but that's exactly what Khang didn't want.

“I won't make it up,” she said, as if reminding herself.

Mai looked at her. "Unrequited."

“I know.”

They found the box in the music room. A 10th grade student mistakenly picked it up because he thought it was a box of strings. The money was still there, but the boy was afraid of being punished so he didn't dare return it.

Khang told him to put the box on the table and tell the truth. Mr. Hoang did not punish him, he only asked him to write an instruction sheet and stick it on the lid of the box. Huy added a smiley face, while Nhu clearly stated: "The project's money is not a toy, but the person who makes a mistake still has the right to correct it."

An looked at the text and suddenly remembered that the lunch box was taken by mistake. Two different things but the same thing: not embarrassing the other person to the point that they choose to run away.

In the afternoon, the group went to survey the number of students using the backyard. They stood at the gate, asking each person if they wanted a place to read. Many students answered yes, some said they didn't read books but wanted a place to charge their phones. A 12th grade boy asked if he could sleep in the middle of class.

An writes down everything, including irrelevant answers. Like asking why she wrote "sleep".

“Because people need a place to rest, which is also data.”

“You begin to see more clearly.”

“I'm still learning.”

Khang heard it and just laughed.

That night, An opened the last envelope because she needed to buy cold medicine for Mai. Mai sneezed all afternoon but still insisted on working. An paid without saying anything, then wrote on the expense sheet: “Medicine — spare money.”

The next day, Mai gave the money back. “I can buy it myself.”

“I know.”

“So why do you pay?”

"Because you needed it then. Not because I wanted to be a rescuer."

Mai looked at her, then accepted. “This way of speaking is progressive.”

An smiled. Khang stood nearby, not commenting. He just gave her a ginger candy.

"Do not said I'm about to get sick too,” An warned.

“I said you bought medicine for Mai but forgot to buy it for yourself.”

An peeled the candy. “You are so annoying.”

"I know."

During the week, An began to get used to not being able to buy everything. She learned how to borrow library books, exchange notebooks with Mai, bring a water bottle, and ask the price before taking the food. She also learned to say "no" when Huy asked to buy mixed rice paper because "a little spicy will cheer up the budget".

At the end of the week, An had twelve thousand left and a spare envelope. She didn't win the contest because she still had to borrow an eraser from Mai, but she wasn't hungry and didn't ask her father to open her card. Khang checked the board, saying: “You survived.”

“Sounds like I just went through a battle.”

“For someone who has used black cards, this is a battle.”

An threw the pen cap at him. Khang can help. Huy announced that he would hold an award ceremony for "the person who has the most progress in counting change of the month".

When the group went out to the backyard, a new sign had been put up: “No Tickets Backyard — open for testing.” The sign is slightly tilted, the word "no" is blurred, but there are three students sitting on the bookshelf reading.

An stood under the shade of a tree, looking at the remaining money in his wallet. It wasn't much, but she knew it came from her choices. That feeling was different from any expensive gift she had ever received. Not brilliant, not overwhelming, just as solid as a pallet placed on the right foot.

Khang walked over and gave her a glass of lemonade. “New batch. Not too sour.”

An took a sip. “Still a bit sour.”

“So that's the right formula.”

An burst out laughing. In the backyard, the sound of flipping books mixed with Huy reading the rules in a dramatic voice. A difficult week had passed, and she began to understand that being poor was not a role for her to play. That is the reality of many people, and she is just learning how to step into it with her feet.

The next day, An made a small board listing the prices of cheap and filling dishes. She asked Ms. Dung about the rations, then asked Mai to check if the letters were easy to read. The board does not list any dishes "for the poor", only the amount of rice and the price. A 10th grader said the board helps him choose meals without having to stand too long in front of the counter.

Huy wanted to add a section "dishes for people who have just broken up", but was banned by Khang. An smiled, then wrote a line at the end: "If you're not sure, just ask Ms. Dung." Ms. Dung read it, nodded and said it was the best advice in the cafeteria.

At the shop, An received payment after two hours of helping deliver the car. A customer offered her extra money because she cleaned the chain, but An asked Khang if she would accept it. Khang said it was a customer's tip, she could keep it if she wanted. An accepted, then put half in the box to buy gloves for the group.

“It's your choice,” Khang said.

“I asked first.”

"I see."

An begins to understand the difference between asking permission and asking for opinions. Asking permission sometimes implicitly puts others in the position of having to make decisions for themselves; Asking for opinions opens up the possibility of mutual deliberation. She wrote that down in the notebook next to the expense sheet.

On weekends, the group organizes a communal meal in the yard. Each person brings just enough food, no one has to buy a larger portion. Huy brought mixed rice but forgot to mix it, Mai brought fruit, Nhu brought bread, Khang brought boiled potatoes. An brought boiled eggs with a timer. This time all three fruits were medium ripe.

“Clear progress,” Mai said.

An looked at the three eggs and saw that a normal life is not a miracle, just a matter of trying again and again until it becomes less clumsy.

That afternoon, Huy created a ranking of dishes according to their "hunger relief ability". He gave the first place to egg rice and the last place to a cake with only filling because "it's still sad after eating it". An helped him check by asking each of his friends, then realized that the ranking made cheap items be viewed with respect instead of pity.

Khang told them to ask Ms. Dung before posting the sign. Ms. Dung finished reading, changed the price of one dish because vegetables had increased that day, and then allowed the group to hang it. An added update date in the bottom corner. She doesn't want a piece of information that's true today to become a false assertion tomorrow.

That evening, An called his father to tell him about the cafeteria table. Father asked her if she missed meals at home. An said he missed him, but didn't want to come back just for the meal. Father said: “A delicious meal is not the opposite of responsibility.” An nodded, understanding that she did not need to choose between comfort and maturity; She needs to know what reason she is choosing.

Before going to bed, An divided the envelope into two layers: money for the day and emergency money. She wrote on the back of the envelope with a reminder: “Don't let a hard day make a harder tomorrow.” The next morning, she showed the expense list to Khang. He didn't change the number, just asked if she had saved money to go see a doctor if she had a fever.

An additional small amount. She understands that contingencies do not make the budget worse; it allows people not to panic when life changes direction. In the yard, a boy asked for the price of rice. An pointed to the cafeteria sign and said if it wasn't enough, he could ask Ms. Dung. He nodded, no one made him feel embarrassed.

An put the cafeteria price list in his pocket, promising to update it when the food changed. She didn't want a board that helped one day and then became a trap another day.

When he locked the gate, An looked at the price list again. She knows she may have to fix it tomorrow, but the person who comes later will know they have the right to ask.

An folded the envelope and placed it next to the room key. Tomorrow she still had to count, but she no longer saw numbers as her enemy.

An laughed when Huy called the price list a "survival map". She put it in her bag and returned to class with everyone before the sound of drums.