Chapter 5 — The Alley Is No Longer On The Map

The official interview took place at an international education center located in the heart of the city, nearly twenty kilometers from Gieng Chung alley - a distance that Vy had never traveled more than half of in her entire life at one time. The night before, the whole small neighborhood was talking as if their own children were about to take an exam.

"What are you wearing to the interview? The old uniform probably won't look good." Mrs. Nam Xoi was scooping sticky rice to sell and speaking loudly, her voice as worried as Vy's biological mother.

"My child temporarily borrowed a white shirt and skirt from the girl next door, just borrowed it this afternoon." Mrs. Nhien replied, her hands still quickly ironing every fold on the borrowed shirt, carefully as if preparing for an important ceremony.

Uncle Hai Moc, not talking much as usual, silently took out the family's only spare motorbike to clean, change the oil, re-pump the wheels, and check the brakes thoroughly as if preparing for a really important long trip, not just taking a student to an interview.

"I'll take it away tomorrow morning." He announced to Khanh, his voice not allowing anyone to argue. "It's a long way, your car is still weak, let me drive you more safely."

"I can carry you, dad." Khanh objected, but Uncle Hai Moc just shook his head and gently tapped the wrench on his son's shoulder.

"You go with me, sit in the back and take care of it mentally. Let me drive, you just need to make sure it doesn't shake too much."

The whole neighborhood also contributed other small contributions: Mrs. Nam Xoi put a package of gac sticky rice wrapped in banana leaves into Vy's hand, "eat it for luck, red like sticky rice, everything will be red", Uncle Bay - who lives at the end of the alley and specializes in motorbike taxi driving - lent him a new windbreaker to wear over his shirt to avoid getting dusty on the road, and Mo gave Vy a stack of paper with sample interview questions he found online at the internet shop at the end of the market, the handwriting was scribbled but complete and careful. came unexpectedly.

"Memorize these sentences, I see people asking that a lot online." Fat said, a rare serious tone. "If you pass your scholarship, it's like the whole group of three of us passed, Khanh and I also had a part in it."

The night before the interview, Vy could hardly sleep. She lay awake, hearing her mother tossing and turning next to her. She knew that she was also awake. They both pretended to be asleep so as not to make the other worry more.

*

The next morning, it was not yet completely dawn, the three people set out. Uncle Hai Moc drove, Vy sat in the middle, clutching a briefcase wrapped in a plastic bag to avoid dew, Khanh sat in the back, one hand holding Vy's shoulder to keep her from falling every time the car went over a pothole.

The road from the alley to the highway and then into the city center is long, the scenery gradually changes from close-packed corrugated iron roofs to high-rise buildings with shiny glass reflecting the early morning sun. Vy looked out at both sides of the road, feeling like she was entering a completely different world, where everything was so big, clean and unfamiliar that she unconsciously grabbed Khanh's sleeve tightly behind her.

"Are you shaking?" Khanh asked, leaning close to her ear to block out the sound of the wind.

"Shaking to the point of fainting." Vy answered truthfully, not hiding it.

"Just remember how you told me about the shared well the other day. Don't think of it as an interview, think of it as telling people your family's story."

Upon arriving, the international education center building stood tall with transparent glass doors and a cool, air-conditioned lobby, making the three people entering from the poor alley feel distinctly out of place. The other contestants were mostly dressed neatly, some were accompanied by parents who spoke in fluent English, and some even carried shiny leather briefcases. Vy clenched her hands, trying to stay calm, but her eyes could not hide the uncertainty when comparing herself with what was displayed before her eyes.

Uncle Hai Moc realized that, pulled her to the waiting chair, his voice was low but firm.

"You don't get tired of looking at them. Dad has repaired countless luxury cars of rich people. No matter how expensive the car is, there are times when it breaks down, and it has to be in the hands of a mechanic like Dad to be able to run it. People are the same, not just wearing nice clothes makes them better than you. Just go in there, say what you know, what you've lived, no one can refute you."

The car mechanic's simple words made Vy suddenly laugh, and the trembling in her heart calmed down somewhat.

Waiting another fifteen minutes, Vy noticed a girl about the same age as herself sitting a few seats away, holding a new phone, whispering reviewing her speech in fluent English like a native. Next to the girl was an elegant middle-aged woman, occasionally adjusting her daughter's collar and advising something in the confident voice of someone who had gone through many similar interviews.

"That girl probably goes to an international school." Khanh whispered into Vy's ear, trying to make a joke to ease her tension. "He speaks English like he sings."

"YES." Vy nodded slightly, a feeling of uncertainty rising in her heart. She looked down at her worn canvas shoes, then at the other girl's shiny leather shoes, an invisible distance but as clear as a line that didn't need to be drawn to be seen. She wondered, between someone who already had everything and someone who had to find her own way, would the interview panel really see and appreciate that difference, or simply choose who spoke better.

"Don't look at it anymore." Uncle Hai Moc spoke, his voice was small but firm, as if he could read her thoughts. "People have their people, you have your own way. I've lived for more than fifty years, and I've seen the rich kids study for the sake of it, while the poor kids study because they really need to change their lives. People in the council are very sharp-eyed, they don't look at the outside."

When her name was called, she stood up and turned to look at Khanh and her father one last time. Uncle Hai Moc gave a thumbs up, while Khanh only said one sentence.

"Tell me about the well. I believe you."

*

The interview lasted forty minutes, conducted by a three-person panel consisting of two Australian university lecturers online via screen and a representative of the scholarship fund in person. The first questions were quite familiar, exactly like what Mo had listed, Vy answered fluently thanks to having practiced many times. But in the middle of the class, a lecturer asked a question that made her stop.

"If you finish studying, do you plan to return to Vietnam to work? Or do you want to stay and develop your career here?"

Vy was silent for a few seconds, long enough to feel the weight of the question. She thought of her mother, of Gieng Chung alley, of Khanh who was waiting outside, of what Mr. An said the other day: "After studying, I can return home and do a lot of work". Then she looked straight at the screen, answering in imperfect but sincere English.

"I want to come back. My hometown gave me everything I have. If I only take without giving back, then... the scholarship means nothing to me."

The lecturer nodded, wrote something on the paper in front of him, and did not comment further. The interview ended a few minutes later, Vy walked out of the room with shaky legs from standing for a long time and from pent-up tension for nearly an hour.

Outside the lobby, Khanh stood up as soon as he saw her, ran closer, his eyes questioning.

"What's wrong?"

"Don't know." Vy shook her head, her voice tired but strangely relieved. "I've answered everything I know. Now I just have to wait."

Uncle Hai Moc patted her shoulder, didn't ask anything else, just said simply: "That's okay. Let's go home, we still have to open the shop on time."

On the way home, sitting behind Khanh this time because Uncle Hai Moc gave up the steering wheel to rest a bit, Vy leaned her head on his back, feeling the familiar warmth through her old worn shirt, her heart was both empty because she had given it her all, and had a vague premonition that her life was about to turn a turning point from which she could not turn back.

"No matter the outcome, I'm still proud of you." Khanh spoke, his voice low enough so that the wind wouldn't blow it away. "You've said exactly what you are, that's enough."

Vy didn't answer, just gently clasped her hands around his waist, letting the afternoon wind blow back, bringing with it both road dust and an emotion that had yet to be named.

The car drove across an overpass, below was a stream of crowded traffic, the street lights began to flicker in the dusk of the afternoon. Vy looked down at the sprawling city below, suddenly thinking of the lecturer's question from earlier, and the answer she blurted out without thinking carefully.

"I just realized that I promised someone something big just now." She said, her voice quieter.

"What promise?" Khanh asked, eyes still looking straight at the road.

"I said I would definitely come home after finishing school. But I didn't know what things would be like ten years later." Vy sighed, pressed her cheek against the back of his shirt, smelling the familiar smell of motor oil mixed with the sweat of a long day. "What if I make an empty promise?"

Khanh was silent for a moment, then replied, his voice as firm as every time he finished repairing the most damaged car.

"Then just remember that promise, think of it as a car chain. Sometimes it's loose, sometimes it's stuck, but as long as you don't remove it, it will still pull you back on the right path, sooner or later."

Uncle Hai Moc sat in front, listening to the two children's story, just quietly smiled, increased the throttle to drive the car a little faster to get back to open the shop before it got completely dark, leaving behind the city with high-rise buildings that were gradually disappearing behind the sunset smoke and dust.