Chapter 7 — Pride And Scholarship

Three days after the meeting with the supervisor's office, Mr. Quang - the teacher in charge of scholarship admissions and the person directly supervising Hoai An's entrance exam - proactively requested a meeting with the school board to present the verification results.

Hoai An was invited to attend with the presence of Ms. Hanh. Although her health was still weak, she still tried to arrange to go to school to support her daughter during this important moment. The small board of directors meeting room was filled with people — the principal, the vice principal, the homeroom teacher, Mr. Quang, along with representatives of the school's information technology department.

"After a thorough verification process," Mr. Quang began, his voice firm and confident, "I can confirm that Nguyen Hoai An's entire exam marking process is completely transparent and in accordance with regulations. This is a recording of the exam room surveillance camera during the entrance exam, showing that Hoai An did not commit any fraudulent acts."

He turned on the projector and showed a video recording the entire process of Hoai An taking the exam, from the start to the submission, without any suspicious moments. Next, he further presented the cross-scoring process, with the participation of at least three independent judges for each test, ensuring absolute objectivity.

"In addition," Mr. Quang continued, "I also contacted Hoai An's former homeroom teacher at middle school. She confirmed that Hoai An has always been the best student in the grade throughout the three years of school, with outstanding academic achievements, completely consistent with the results of the entrance exam to our school."

The principal nodded, his eyes turned to look at Hoai An with respect. "The school apologizes for letting you suffer from baseless accusations in the past. We will make an official announcement, publicly exonerating you in front of the whole school."

Tears welled up in Hoai An's eyes, unable to contain his relief and emotion after many days of enduring heavy pressure. Ms. Hanh, sitting next to her, holding her daughter's hand tightly, could not hide her tears of happiness.

“Thank you, teachers,” Hoai An said, her voice choked up, “I'm really grateful that the school investigated me thoroughly and fairly.”

"That is our responsibility," the principal replied, "the school always promotes fairness, regardless of any student's background. You deserve this scholarship with your own ability."

Before ending the meeting, the vice principal added an important issue. "We also conducted an investigation into the origin of the anonymous post on the school's social network. Based on technical data, we identified the posting account linked to an IP address from one of the school's students. We will continue to clarify and handle strictly according to regulations."

Hoai An felt her heart beat faster at this information, even though she didn't know for sure whether the investigation would lead to Diem Quynh or not, but at least, she felt more secure knowing that the school was seriously handling this issue, not letting it sink into oblivion.

Leaving the meeting room, Minh Khoi was waiting outside, his eyes filled with concern when he saw Hoai An walking out with tears on his face but shining with happiness. happiness. “Is everything okay?” he asked, his voice filled with hope.

"It's okay," Hoai An replied, smiling brightly through her tears, "the school has completely exonerated me. Thank you so much for helping me all this time."

Minh Khoi smiled, a feeling of relief was evident on his face. "I'm happy for you," he said, "I knew the truth would win. You've proven yourself worthy, no need to worry about malicious rumors anymore."

Ms. Hanh, standing nearby, looked at the polite boy talking to her daughter with respectful eyes. “Thank you for helping Hoai An in the past,” she said, her voice warm, “I really appreciate you.”

"It's okay, uncle," Minh Khoi replied, bowing politely, "I just did what I thought was right. Hoai An is a good friend, I can't stand by and watch him suffer unjustly."

Ms. Hanh smiled, a subtle light flashed through her eyes when she saw the way Minh Khoi cared for her daughter, but she did not say anything more, just quietly observed, letting the two children naturally develop their own relationship.

That afternoon, an official notice from the school was posted on the bulletin board, clearly affirming Hoai An's innocence in the scholarship entrance exam, and at the same time strictly warning about spreading false information that affects the honor of other students. This announcement quickly attracted the attention of the entire school, causing previous rumors to gradually quiet down.

Many students, who had previously had a cold attitude towards Hoai An, now came back to apologize and express their support. “I'm sorry for believing in those baseless rumors,” a classmate said, his face somewhat guilty, “now that I know the truth, I admire you much more.”

Hoai An smiled and accepted the apology generously, not caring about what happened. She understands that in the context of chaotic information, not everyone is alert enough to distinguish right from wrong from the beginning, and the most important thing now is that she has proven her innocence with authentic evidence.

That night, Hoai An called to tell Thao Nhi the good news, her voice filled with excitement after the past few stressful days. “Everything has been resolved, the school has completely exonerated me.”

"Thankfully," Thao Nhi breathed a sigh of relief, "I've been worried about you to death these past few days. So has whoever was behind that been dealt with?"

"The school said they are continuing to investigate," Hoai An replied, "but I don't want to make things more tense. I just hope everything goes back to normal."

“You're so generous,” Thao Nhi said, her voice full of admiration, “if it were me, I'd probably have to ask for corn and potatoes to accept it.”

"I'm also very angry," Hoai An laughed, "but I think the most important thing is that my honor has been restored. As for dealing with wrong people, let the school take care of it, I don't want to get into any more trouble."

After the call, Hoai An sat alone, opened the notebook, and wrote a new emotional line: "Thank you to those who believed in me in the most difficult times. The truth, no matter how hidden, will eventually shine." She closed the notebook, her heart filled with faith in the days months ahead, although she is well aware, this is probably just one of the many challenges she will still have to face at this complicated aristocratic school.

The next morning, when Hoai An entered the classroom, she noticed that the atmosphere was completely different from before - the distant, judgmental eyes had now been replaced by friendly smiles and warm greetings. Even Gia Huy, who once warned her about the danger of Bao Tran, took the initiative to start a conversation.

"I'm glad everything is clear," Gia Huy said, his voice a bit embarrassed, "actually, I heard rumors about that post before, but didn't dare say it out loud for fear of getting involved. I'm sorry for being silent."

Hoai An looked at him, feeling the sincerity in that apology. “Thank you for being honest,” she said, “I understand, sometimes speaking up isn't easy, especially when facing pressure from influential people.”

“You are really tolerant,” Gia Huy said, his voice full of admiration, “if it was someone else, I would have been angry and blamed a lot.”

“Anger won't solve anything,” Hoai An replied, smiling, “I just hope everything goes smoothly, so we can all focus on studying, instead of forever getting caught up in unnecessary dramas.”

As for Bao Tran, throughout that morning, she kept her distance, never mentioning anything about what had just happened, but her eyes occasionally glanced at Hoai An with an unpredictable expression - not exactly remorse, not quite the same bitterness as before, but a complex mixture of many emotions that even she herself could not clearly name, a small sign that the hidden war between the two was still far from truly over, even though both were Unforeseeable, the road ahead will lead them to more unexpected turns, turns where both friendship and student love will have to go through challenges before finding the final peaceful destination.