Chapter 6 — Summer On The Terrace

The automatic irrigation system is installed at four o'clock in the afternoon, right when concrete retains the most heat. Quan placed two soil moisture sensors, an electric valve and a small controller connected to the water tank. Vy was in charge of the location map, Ha recorded the amount of water, My filmed the process with everyone's consent.

“What if the valve stays open too long?” Vy asked.

"The controller has limits. But don't trust it absolutely."

“I know.”

“You said ‘know’ too quickly.”

Vy put down the map. “So what do you want me to say?”

“Say you'll check with your eyes.”

“I'll check with my eyes.”

Quan nodded and continued connecting the wire.

When the system runs, water drips in waves. The sensor indicates dry soil and the valve opens. But a tray of soil near the luffa trellis did not receive enough water because the pipe was bent. Ha discovered when the leaves began to droop.

"Turn off!" she shouted.

Quan ran to the valve lock. Water had seeped into a crack near the engine room. Uncle Sau came up, looked at the background and then at the group.

“I said the old tank had problems.”

Vy said: "This is a new tube."

“Water is still flowing on the old roof.”

Quan measured the humidity, made a record and called the management board. An employee came to take photos and said the garden had damaged the waterproofing layer. Ms. Nhan sent an email requesting a temporary halt to all activities and asked the school to allow the company to "urgently inspect the status quo".

Long read the email, his face tense. “They will use this to say the garden is dangerous.”

Quan replied: "The garden is at fault. We have to fix it before arguing."

Vy looked at him. “Are you on their side?”

“I stand on the roof.”

Uncle Sau requested to remove the irrigation system during the day. The team worked until evening, replacing the pipe, opening the drainage channel and placing the drip tray. My turned off the camera when Ha said she didn't want to be recorded in her panic.

After cleaning, Vy saw that her drawing had a pipe going through the old waterproofing area. She ignored Ms. Huong's note. Quan didn't say "I told you", just held his pen and drew a line.

“I was wrong,” Vy said.

“It's the drawing that's wrong, not you.”

“You don't need comfort.”

“I'm sorting.”

Vy laughed, but her eyes were stinging. They revised the drawings, reduced irrigation areas and switched to hand watering in risky areas. The automatic system cannot be used yet.

That night, the management board sent a notice: if there was no repair report within seven days, the garden would be dismantled early. Twenty-three days left.

Long wants to post an explanation immediately. My stopped, saying we needed Uncle Sau's minutes and water data. Ha asked the kitchen to sell more meals to buy temporary waterproofing.

Quan opened the cost table. “We are short twelve million.”

Vy asked: "What if the company sponsors?"

Quan looked at her. “They will take power.”

Vy knew he was right, but the money still lay there like a wall.

The next morning, Ms. Nhan sent a meeting invitation. She said the company did not want the garden to be dismantled, just wanted a solution that was safe and had brand recognition. She offered to pay for the waterproofing costs if the group agreed to let them use the images and data.

Vy asked: "What about user data?"

“We just need aggregate data.”

My said: "Yesterday you guys took the name of the person in charge of watering."

Mrs. Nhan looked at Long. “It was an employee error.”

Long bowed his head.

Quan asked if the drawing of the advertising frame included wind load. Ms. Nhan said the technical team is working.

“Show us.”

“When the project is approved.”

Quan stood up. “So there was nothing to discuss at the meeting.”

Mrs. Nhan looked at him, then at Vy. "You have three weeks. Don't make yourself a rival to someone who can help."

Vy replied: “Helping is not the same meaning of ownership.”

After the meeting, Quan said he would make an independent technical report. Vy agreed, but they disagreed on who was responsible for the costs. The group walked down the stairs in silence.

On the second floor, My received an email from a student: a photo of the broken irrigation system had been sent to the school news site, with the sentence "The rooftop team worked carelessly." No one in the group posted.

Vy looked at Quan. “Some people want us to fail.”

“Or they just want pictures,” Quan said.

Vy did not reply. She reopened the drawing of the advertising frame and saw a red mark on the water tank. The red mark coincides with the location of yesterday's water seepage.

Quan requested to make a record of the incident, including photos of the seepage stain and the time the valve was turned off. Vy did not want to publish it for fear of discrediting the group, but Ms. Huong said the profile was not an advertisement.

“If we hide, the company's post will be the only story,” My said.

Vy agreed. They posted a short log, stating the tube error, the estimated cause, and what was fixed. Do not use photos of withered leaves as wallpaper, do not blame the workers.

The post was ridiculed by some. Some people say that students play with trees and want to keep the roof. Ha replied with the number of meals and the invoice, without cursing back.

Quan sets up an inspection schedule after each watering, with signatures of the worker and cross-checker. He didn't want the system to turn back on automatically until the water tank was fixed. Vy draws a large board, using colors that are easy to see for people unfamiliar with drawings.

Ms. Nhan sent a letter saying the company was willing to lend waterproofing equipment, but needed the group to sign a receipt. Hanh looked and saw the terms and rights to use the image. The group requested to quit.

“If you quit, the company won't lend you money,” Long said.

“So hire or raise funds,” Ha replied.

They held camera repair sessions and sold used books. Quan took on electrical repairs, Vy took on drawing diagrams for clubs. My makes a transparent table of money coming in and going out. The amount increases slowly, but no one owes an invisible right.

A student asked why not use photos of the garden to call for sponsorship. My said you can use photos that have been approved by the group, but do not use outsiders' faces.

At the end of the day, Quan received news that his father needed to rest because of back pain. He sat behind the stairs and opened the expense sheet. Vy gave him a list of electrical repair jobs from Ms. Huong, paid by the hour.

“I don't want you to work extra for the group,” Vy said.

“I do it for my family. The group only helps find jobs.”

"Okay."

Quan accepted, then asked what she needed. Vy said she needed someone to check the drawings. He nodded, not calling it an exchange.

At night, the team saw blue tape on the sensor. Quan sent samples to the security department and asked to check the company's materials list. Blue tape is the type they use to mark survey equipment, but also sells it commercially.

“No conclusion,” Quan reminded.

Vy said: "I'm learning that sentence."

The administrator notice about the five-day deadline reappeared, with a new line: “If the group does not respond, the school will restore its original status.”

Ha asked what the initial state was. What Uncle Sau said meant removing the entire tray.

Vy looked at the terrace. Twenty-three days turned into years.

The group met right at the folding table. No one opens with “we must save the garden”. Hanh read the original notice, Long checked the seal, and My divided a piece of paper into two columns: what the school had decided on and what was just a backup condition. Ms. Huong said that if they don't separate the two parts, they will panic and come up with a plan that doesn't have enough basis.

Quan quickly drew the ground. If Remove the tray within five days, giving priority to tanks located on roof areas with old waterproofing layers. The heaviest trays will be taken down first, but at least one row must be kept for continued measurement. Ha opposes removing trees in a clean-up manner. She suggested moving each tray to the backyard of the dormitory, numbering it and writing down the recipient, to avoid the situation where the plants are put in storage and no one knows who belongs to them.

Long called the student affairs office to ask for a cart. The person on duty asked the group if they had funding. Long opened his budget and saw that there was only enough transportation left for two trips. He proposed changing an event into a tree moving day, inviting clubs to participate and making the costs public. Hanh reminds you to ask for permission first and not turn saving the garden into a media campaign.

My deletes the opening music of the edited podcast. In that part, there was the sound of students shouting when they heard the news that the garden was threatened, but they had not asked permission from those present. She said she would make a short episode using only the sounds of footsteps, the sound of a cart and the announcement being read. Not dramatic, but the listener will understand that time is being shortened by specific things.

In the evening, Ms. Nhan sent the company's technical requirements sheet. There is a section that says "restore to original state", without specifying whether the original was the bare roof or the drainage system before the team repaired it. Quan marked that sentence and asked the company to explain in writing. Vy added questions to the file, then set an alarm for six in the morning to check each tank. Five days isn't long, but they can still turn it into a schedule instead of a slogan.

Hanh sets up a shift schedule by the hour, so that no one person has to be present all day. Morning shift checks water and heavy trays, noon shift records heat, evening shift locks doors and backs up data. She adds a “substitute” box for each shift. My posted an appeal in the class group, stating that participants only needed one hour and did not have to speak on camera. By evening, twelve people had signed up.

Tuan brought up the mint pot and drilled additional drainage holes. Ha put it in the shade and wrote his name on the board. Tuan asked if he had to clean up, could he bring the pot with him? Ha said yes, as long as he recorded the amount of sunlight and water so the next person wouldn't replant it from scratch. Vy listened to the answer and saw that "relocation" does not necessarily mean erasure.

Quan walked around, using a red pen to mark three points where he absolutely did not place a stroller. One spot is near the edge of the roof, one spot has a drainage cover, one spot has a sunken foundation. He explained to the volunteer group, then asked them to repeat it in their own words. Someone said something wrong, he corrected them and showed them the map. No one gets scolded, but no one gets to skip that step.

At night, Vy sent the work schedule to Mrs. Nhan and the board of directors. She did not ask for more time, just announced that the group would complete the priority list in the first two days and submit a relocation plan with data on the fourth day. At the end of the letter, she wrote: "If the school has a mandatory form, please send it before 10 a.m. tomorrow." For once she did not write to persuade; she writes to force everyone to work on a clear plane.