Chapter 22 — Late Table Lady

Prop making night started at seven o'clock and was supposed to end at nine o'clock. At nine fifteen, Huy found the scissors. At nine thirty, Mai discovered that she had pasted the map upside down. At ten o'clock, Khang announced that no one was allowed to say "almost done" anymore.

An sat on the classroom floor, cutting cardboard into house models. She had never stayed up late doing crafts; At home, everything is usually pre-ordered. Now she had glue on her fingers, paper scraps in her hair, and a hunger she couldn't name.

Huy gave her half of the cake. “I checked, there's no paint.”

“How do you check?”

"Eat."

Mai snatched the cake. "Don't trust Huy. He once ate an eraser because he thought it was candy."

“The eraser tastes like apples.”

“It's shaped like an apple, which doesn't mean it's meant to be eaten.”

Like writing an explanation for the model. She edited a sentence four times because she wanted it to be both clear and not sound like a slogan. Khang installed a small water trough system, each time he tried, water splashed onto the board.

“This is the fourth time,” An said.

“The fourth time showed that we were better than the first time.”

“The first time the water didn't even flow.”

“So it's clear progress.”

An smiled, then turned back to cutting the cover. At eleven o'clock, her phone rang. Father asked her where she was. An said he was in class making props. Father told the driver to come pick him up, but An refused because he wanted to stay with the group.

“How will you return?”

"Night bus."

"Insecure."

"Teacher Hoang is here, you can ask him."

Dad was silent and then said he would send the car to the gate, but not go to class. An agrees. She knows safety is not something that should turn into a power struggle.

Teacher Hoang brought a pot of hot porridge from the cafeteria. Ms. Dung said students who work after hours must eat. Huy bowed his head in thanks, then took two more bowls. Mai hit his arm.

“One bowl for yourself, one bowl for the future,” Huy explained.

“The future draws itself.”

An eats slowly. Hot porridge woke everyone up. Khang used a spoon to tap the rim of the bowl and told the group to rest for ten minutes. During those ten minutes, they told stories unrelated to the project: Mai once had her cake stolen by a seagull, Nhu once recorded a learning video and forgot to turn off the computer, Huy was afraid of flying cockroaches.

“What is Khang afraid of?” An asked.

Khang thought. "I'm afraid that one day I'll be able to fix everything and not be able to save what needs to be saved."

The answer caused the laughter to subside. An did not ask more. She knows there are fears that don't need immediate explanation.

Near midnight, the model completed. The small cardboard yard has bookshelves, water troughs, trees and walkways. Mai stuck a paper chair in the corner, Huy placed a tiny character reading a story. An stepped back to look and saw that everyone in the model had a place.

Khang gave her a piece of cardboard. “You name this corner.”

An wrote: “A place to breathe.”

Huy read and said: "That sounds a bit sad."

“Because there are days when people need to breathe.”

Mai nodded, not correcting.

At the gate, An's father's driver was waiting. Huy bowed deeply, dropping the character model. Khang picked it up and returned it to An.

“Don't bring fragile items on the bus tomorrow,” he said.

“I will hug you tightly.”

“That is not a technical solution.”

An looked at him under the school gate light. “Do you want a ride?”

Khang shake. “I ride.”

“It's going to rain.”

“I have a raincoat.”

“Is your raincoat big enough?”

"Enough for me and a bicycle. Not enough for a young lady."

An was about to object, but he took the car away. Huy turned to her. “He calls you lady without being thrown a brush.”

“I'm weighing myself prompt.”

“Consider it for a while, I need to see the results.”

In the car, An placed the model on his lap. The driver asked her if she was tired. She said yes, but not like she was tired and wanted to hide. It's the kind of fatigue that makes people feel like they're in a real place.

The next morning, the model was tilted at an angle because An fell asleep in the car. Huy suggested considering it an "earthquake effect". Mai corrected it, Khang reinforced the bottom. No one is to blame.

During the trial presentation, Mr. Hoang asked each person a question. Like talking about usage history, Mai about neighborhood memories, Huy about headline-free communication, Khang about maintenance. Coming to An, the teacher asked: "What is the most difficult thing you have learned?"

An looked at the model board. “Not everyone who helps you wants to make decisions. But I have to ask first so they can say what they want.”

Teacher Hoang nodded. “That sentence should be left at the end of the article.”

An edits slides. Khang stood next to him and asked if it needed to be shorter.

“No. I want to keep it the same.”

“First time you don't talk longer.”

“I'm making progress.”

"I see."

The night of making props left behind glue marks on the floor, a few yawns, and an imperfect model. But when passing students stopped to watch, someone asked when they could use the real field, the group knew those late hours were not wasted. No one can live forever in one night, but one night spent together can change the way they approach the next day.

The next night, the team had to repair the model because one corner of the cover was peeling off. An brought new glue, but Khang suggested trying the cheaper glue used at the store. They tried it on a piece of leftover cardboard, waited for enough time, and then pasted it. Huy complained that patience was not in the subject, but he still sat and waited.

Mai asked each person what made them want the project to keep. As said, because the school needs a space that is not sold for advertising. Huy said because he wanted to have a place to broadcast without being fired. Khang said it was because people in the neighborhood needed a place that wasn't considered temporary. An said because she wanted to see her decision benefit others for once without having to sign her family's name.

No one laughed at that answer. Huy just gave An a nicer piece of cardboard to make a board.

Teacher Hoang checked the class at nearly twelve o'clock. The teacher did not scold him for staying late, but asked to call the parents and clean the floor. An called his mother, Mai called his sister, Huy called his father and pretended to lose signal. Khang asked his grandmother's permission.

When everyone left, An and Khang stood waiting for the car. He asked her if she was afraid her father would know she stayed up late. An said her father knew, but what he was afraid of was that she forgot to eat.

“Your father is concerned in a somewhat paper-heavy way,” Khang said.

“You also care in a more normative way.”

“Rules keep people from falling.”

“And sometimes it makes people not dare to step.”

Khang looked at her. “Do you want to step?”

"Have. But I want to know if the foundation is solid.”

The two were silent. An's car arrived first, the driver held the door. Khang waved, then cycled into the night. An looked at his reflection through the glass, but did not call back.

The next morning, the model was placed in the middle of the yard. Passersby can see from all four sides, there is no longer a front dedicated to the presenter. Huy said it was his idea, although Mai clearly edited it. Mai did not compete for credit, just told her to let the model work.

An learns another lesson: a good product does not necessarily have the name of the first person who came up with it. As long as the user understands how to use it and the next person knows how to fix it.

The model was brought to an elementary classroom near the school for the children to see. Huy wants to tell the real story funny, but a little girl asked directly: "Why is there no one sitting alone in the model?"

An looked at the cardboard character. They are only readers and planters, not people who need quiet. Khang cut out a small picture sitting in the wind chair. The girl nodded, saying it was more similar now.

On the way home, An said good design often starts from realizing who you have forgotten. Mai wrote that sentence in her photo book. Like adding "ask the forgotten person before fixing it".

The night of making props, the group had a debate about paint colors. Huy wanted red, because it was easy to see in the photo. Khang wants a dark color, because it's less dirty. An asked the yard user; Most choose light yellow and green. They voted according to the data, Huy was still allowed to paint a pot red.

Near midnight, one of the group cried because he missed home. No one asked for details. Mai brought the water, Khang turned off the lights, An opened the wind chair in the hallway. Huy sat far away, not joking. After a few minutes, she said it was okay and wanted to continue pasting the cover.

An understands that there are times when helping means doing less, so the other person can return to work on their own.

Teacher Hoang checked one last time and found the floor clean. The teacher said the group could go home. Huy asked if the teacher graded staying up late. The teacher said: "I will leave it up to you to know when to stop."

The next day, the model stood on the table, not perfect but with a chair for the person to sit alone. An thought about her question and realized it would last longer with the project than the covers.

The model is wiped clean before storage. An kept the chair because the elementary school girl asked about it first.

An wrote in the props book: "Save a place for people who don't know what to say." She didn't know who would read it, but she wrote anyway.

Huy suggested placing the cardboard chair at the top of the model. An agreed, because people who need a seat should not be hidden in a hidden corner. Everyone repaired the path so the little character could get there without bumping into the bookshelf. The model is smaller, but the story is broader. When someone saw it the next morning, they asked why the chair was placed there. An told about the girl who asked during the tour, then said it was that question that made the group look back.