Chapter 11 — The Bookbreaker Suddenly Got 749 Points, After Investigation... The Whole School Was Silent

After watching, he only said one sentence: Three days later, the school held a graduation convention. At first I didn't want to go. But the school said the confirmation from the Testing Institute and the scholarship application needed the owner's signature. The hall was packed with people. As I entered, the surrounding noises gradually subsided. The front row seat, Uc Dung's seat, was empty. The new temporary homeroom teacher came and took me down to the stage. The principal stepped up to the podium, holding the manuscript in his hand, his voice more solemn than any previous flag salute. He publicly read the retest results. Apologize publicly to me. Also publicly canceled the disciplinary proposal that was never submitted. When it was my turn to step up to receive the award, applause rang out from below. Not really even. Some people are sincere. Some people are afraid. There are also people who just clap along with the crowd. I stood on the stage and saw Ky Minh Triet sitting in the last row. He bowed his head, no longer wearing the clean white shirt from before. Ky's mother sat next to her, her face haggard. The principal gave me the microphone.

“Te Nguyet, say a few words.”

The whole hall looked at me. I took the microphone.

“I don't have any inspirational stories to tell.”

“I also don't want to prove that suffering is valuable.”

“If I could choose…”

“I would rather my mother be alive, I would rather just be an ordinary student with ordinary grades.”

It's so quiet down there that it's scary.

“What I want to say is…”

“Don't turn the life you don't understand into a joke.”

“Don't take other people's silence as guilt.”

"Don't hang the word fairness in your mouth... but use rumors as a knife."

Having finished speaking, I returned the microphone to the principal. The slow applause took a few seconds to ring out. But this time… it's huge. Right at the hall door, Van Hac Nien led two staff members in. They walked straight in front of Ky Minh Triet. The moment he raised his head, his face immediately turned pale. The day Ky Minh Triet was sent to coordinate the investigation, the school forum completely exploded. Someone found out that he had posted my home address in many chat groups. Someone saved a conversation where he urged his classmates to livestream. There are also anonymous people releasing screenshots.

“His mother died just in time to sell carpets.”

That sentence was said by Ky Minh Triet himself. The time is half an hour after the exam scores are announced. After the photo was released, no one told him that it was just "temporary excitement". Ky's mother's exam preparation center was also questioned by parents. Not because of me. But because she was suspected of using her connections in the hospital to look up patient information, then used unverified information to attack minors. The hospital employee who leaked the information was suspended from work. Ky's mother was summoned to work by the industry association. The red banner in front of the center's door was photographed and posted online.

“Before teaching children to get high scores, teach them to be human.”

To Nhue and Phuong Man once came to look for me. Two people stood below the boarding house, carrying bags of fruit in their hands. The landlady did not let them go upstairs.

“Te Nguyet is not home.”

Actually, I was standing behind the window at that time. To Nhue cried until her voice was choked:

“Auntie, please help us talk to him.”

“We really know wrong.”

The landlady pushed the bag of fruit back.

"If you know you're wrong, take responsibility for yourself."

“Stop standing in front of other people's doors. Now she hates this the most.”

As soon as the door closed, I heard Phuong Man grumble in a low voice:

“She won, what else do you want?”

To Nhue did not respond. I pulled back the curtains. Mom will not come back to life. Grandma's eyes won't get better just because of a few apologies. The humiliations that were livestreamed out there... even if the video is deleted, it will forever remain in the mouths of some people. But at least… This time, they couldn't just lightly pretend that nothing had happened. The day the admission notice was sent, the weather was beautiful. The delivery man stood downstairs and shouted loudly:

“Tham Te Nguyet! Admission Notice from Peking University!”

The whole building simultaneously poked their heads out to look. The landlady was even more excited than me, running so much that she lost one of her slippers. She received the parcel for me, her hands were shaking so much that she couldn't open it.

“Te Nguyet, open it, open it.”

When the newspaper was opened, the red cover under the sunlight was so bright it was blinding. Grandmother touched the badge embossed on the paper and asked:

“This is a very good university, right?”

I laughed.

“Very good.”

She nodded and gently stroked her mother's photo again.

“My mother heard it.”