Chapter 16 — Music Sent After School

Khang discovered an old folder on the school computer, the name had only one dot. The group did not open immediately. Ms. Mai called the teacher in charge of technology, made a record and took a screenshot. Lam said they are investigating a case where the culprit may be an old Windows computer. Nhien did not laugh. She knows data doesn't automatically become hers just because it's in front of her eyes.

When allowed to open, the folder only has broadcast schedule photos and a few error audio files. There are no answers, only dates. Duy looked at the list and realized that the day his father left school coincided with the day a broadcast was canceled. He wanted to ask right away, but Nhien put his hand on the edge of the table, reminding him to write it down before speculating.

They listened to the final file using small speakers. A male voice said hello and then fell silent. Lam sat up straight, Khang stopped typing. The silence was so long that everyone could hear the clock hands. Nature doesn't cut it. She marked it as “unknown,” so that the deficiency would be visible rather than covered up by a convenient narrative.

The council chamber has a three-minute clock. Lam discovered it, corrected it and recorded it in the minutes. The principal said it was just a small mistake, but Ms. Mai said the wrong time could lead to a false statement.

Nhien placed a white sheet of paper in the middle of the table, reminding everyone to write questions before answering. Duy sat straight, not holding the phone. Minh Quang kept the documents open, not hiding any pages under his briefcase.

Closing order

The meeting to decide the fate of the radio room was moved to before Vu Tan's livestream. The principal convened teachers, student representatives, SoundSeed and Ha Audio. Ms. Mai placed the "Four No's" procedure on the table. Minh Quang brought a document withdrawing ownership rights. Vu Tan did not appear, only sent a lawyer.

The lawyer said: "The broadcasting department used equipment of disputed origin, broadcast unverified content and influenced partners."

Duy asked: "The equipment was taken from the old warehouse to return the rights to the creator. You call that influence?"

“A school is not a place of judgment.”

“But school is a place to learn how to judge right from wrong.”

The principal tapped his pen. “You need to understand that rooms can be closed due to lack of resources.”

Lam held up the statistics: three broadcast numbers, more than two hundred responses, four classes registered to send in audio, and enough money raised to repair the speaker. “Lack of resources is no longer an excuse.”

Khang presented the repair log, showing that the old device worked fine after replacing the fuse. Ms. Mai proposed a plan to turn the room into an open sound studio, independent of exclusive sponsors.

A SoundSeed representative said: "Without a long-term budget, this model is difficult to maintain."

Nhien replied: "Difficult does not mean you have to sell unlimited rights."

Minh Quang placed the document on the table. “Ha Audio will sponsor the facilities with four conditions proposed by students: non-exclusive, time-limited, right to withdraw voice, and data stored at the school.”

The principal reads. “Your company agrees?”

“I signed.”

SoundSeed's lawyer objected, but Minh Quang said Ha Audio would no longer cooperate if the students' rights were not protected. The words made the room silent. Nhien looked at his father, knowing he was accepting the loss of benefits to correct his mistake.

At the end of the meeting, the radio room was given a one-month extension of operation, with the condition of making public reports every week. The closure order is temporarily suspended, but Vu Tan can still distribute the above copy livestream.

They returned to room 3C. Lam hangs up the new calendar. "One month. We make it impossible for them to treat the room as storage."

Duy said: “First of all, the listening session.”

At 5:10 p.m., the school loudspeaker broadcast Lam's introduction. At the same time, Vu Tan's account started livestreaming. An old tape played from both places. Listeners can choose to listen to the club's narration or the unedited version.

Nhien clearly states the source, time and broadcasting rights. Duy presents the original parts, without adding background music. Ms. Mai read Ha Audio's apology. Minh Quang said directly: "I chose to stay silent to protect the company, and that silence makes others lose the right to call my name."

Vu Tan's livestream was interrupted midway. Maybe he didn't want the audience to hear the explanation. But the record was saved by many people.

After the broadcast, the principal received hundreds of responses. Some support it, some believe that the school should not be related to businesses. Ms. Mai said the feedback is a sign that the program has touched the truth.

Duy is not happy. “My father still doesn't have the finished sheet music.”

“But his name came back,” Nhien said.

“Names cannot replace lost years.”

“No. But it helps others not lose more.”

That night, the group started the project "School Noise Map". Each class sends an audio and accompanying story. Lam is in charge of narration, Khang creates the storage system, Nhien designs the naming rules, Duy guides how to record.

Room 3C was so busy that the Chairman had to sleep on top of the speaker. A student brings the sound of basketball shoes, a teacher sends the sound of chalk tapping the board, the security guard sends the sound of keys. The data increased rapidly, but Nhien checked each consent form.

“You can skip a quick signature,” Khang said.

“No. A sound is not worth the price of carelessness.”

Duy looked at her from the computer desk. “You sound like Miss Mai.”

“Is that a compliment?”

"YES."

“You should talk longer.”

“I'm practicing.”

On the third day, room 3C received a request for another inspection. This time the signer was the school administration, not SoundSeed. They want to know if data is backed up off-campus, who has the right to delete it, and if it can be accessed without permission.

Khang immediately checked the log. A guest account logged in at 2:13 a.m., downloading the noise map folder. The account uses a temporary password that Lam wrote on the roster.

Lam held his head. “I told you it was an easy-to-remember password.”

“Easy for everyone to remember,” Khang replied.

“And easy for others to guess.”

Please check the download version. Only the sound of the football field, no tape 03. But in the metadata, the downloader left a line: **Where will the sound be when the room is closed?**

Duy said: “They want us to panic.”

“Or want to warn,” Ms. Mai replied.

They changed all passwords, enabled two-step authentication, and notified classes. Lam rewrote the rule in larger handwriting. Khang apologized for being subjective, but Duy said that if the error was acknowledged and corrected, it could still be saved.

In the evening, Nhien and Duy sat on the steps. Duy took her to listen to the new melody: the initial three notes developed into a light guitar part, with the sound of the school yard in the background.

“What name?”

“Not yet.”

“Unsendered music?”

“No. This time I know who I'm sending it to.”

Hearing this, my heart skipped a beat. “For the club?”

“For those who contributed.”

“There's one left?”

Duy looked at her, but before he could answer, Lam shouted down from the window: “If you two are going to confess, please avoid the microphone being turned on!”

Nhien and Duy both turned away. Khang laughed until he choked on water.

On the console, the red light is on. No one plugged in the transmitter. File 05 appears:

**Don't look for Vu Tan. Find the person who gave him the key.**

After episode 05, Ms. Mai asked the group to stop looking for outsiders and focus on school records. They checked the list of keys, maintenance schedules and handover records from 2014. There was a gap of seven days with no one signing. During that time, room 3C was used as a temporary warehouse.

Lam discovered that the old map had a ventilation path leading to the council room. Khang followed the diagram and found a technical box covered with paint. There was no device inside, only a piece of red wire and a piece of paper with the number 17:16 written on it.

Nhien does not consider that as the solution. She recorded it, sealed it, and then forwarded it to the school. For the first time, the principal proactively asked everyone to check the old calendar without waiting to be asked.

Minh Quang said Ha Audio would not participate in the meeting if the company was seen as the imposing party. He offered to sit in the guest seat and only answer when called. Duy agrees.

The next meeting took place in a smaller room. There were no SoundSeed representatives, just the school, student group and lawyers. They agreed on three things: keep the room for another month, open the file to make it public, and not release any threatening files.

Lam wrote the minutes in everyday language and sent them back to everyone for confirmation. Khang creates a read-only folder for the original. Create a new broadcast schedule, add a section "listen again with the creator".

Duy said: "I still want to know who gave the key."

“We will know if we have data,” Ms. Mai replied. “But don't let that question take away from the job of saving the room.”

After class, they pass out numbers about taking responsibility when a project goes wrong. Khang told the story of plugging in the wrong wire, Lam told the story of misreading the program name. Only added the rattling sound of the fuse. Nhien kept silent for a while before Khang apologized.

Listeners sent positive feedback. One teacher said her students started admitting their mistakes before being questioned. Room 3C has more registrants.

At night, file 05 did not appear again. The quiet becomes a necessary break.

Nhien wrote in his diary: "A day without strange files is also a working day." She sent a report, turned off the phone and returned with Lam. The two walked across the soccer field, where the sound of the ball bouncing carried no secret message.

Lam said she prefers normal days. Nhien agrees, but knows that normality is kept by many small things: correct locking, correct recording, correct asking.

Duy said: "I still want to know who gave the key."

“We will know if we have data,” Ms. Mai replied. “But don't let that question take away from the job of saving the room.”