Chapter 16 — The Bookmobile Through the Mountains

Immediately after the meeting, Nghi and Nam sat together at her mother's tea shop, spread out a large sheet of paper on the table, and began to sketch out plans for the next eight weeks. This is no longer the job of just a mobile librarian, but has become a real campaign, requiring the coordination of many people and many different resources.

"First of all, I need more voices from the outside, not just my own narrative," Nam said, holding a pen and scratching out each idea on the paper. "An article, a report with pervasive power, will help the program's story reach more people, creating positive public pressure."

"I've thought about this," Nghi replied, "I have a close friend from college, named Bao Yen, who is currently working as a reporter for the province's electronic newspaper. I called and briefly told her about the situation a few weeks ago. Now I have to contact her again and ask her to go on the same trip in person to have real documents."

Nghi immediately called Yen and recounted the entire development — from the announcement letter, the tense meeting, to the decision to hold a public hearing in the next eight weeks. Yen listened attentively, her voice growing increasingly excited as she realized this was truly a worthwhile topic.

"This is exactly the story I've been looking for a long time," Yen said over the phone, her voice full of enthusiasm. "Not only is it a dry budget story, but there is also a story about the late father, about the love between a daughter who continues the legacy, about highland children who are thirsty for words. This is great material for a long-term report, maybe even a short video. I will ask my boss to let me go on a business trip there next week. Can you arrange a schedule for me to go on a real-life trip?"

"Okay, thank you very much," Nghi replied, a feeling of relief creeping into his heart knowing he had another powerful ally.

Nam, sitting next to the conversation, nodded in agreement. "So I have a plan for the media part. Next, I need an official petition, signed by as many people, parents, and teachers on the route as possible, to demonstrate widespread support from the community for the program."

"This must take time going to each copy to collect signatures," Nghi said, calculating in his head. "But I think it's feasible, because I still have to run regular routes every week, so I can combine them."

"I will draft the content of the proposal first, based on a teacher's perspective, clearly stating the specific impacts of the program on student learning," Nam proposed. "You can bring it with you when you go to the villages, explain it to people and ask for signatures or fingerprints, because many older people are illiterate."

The two continued to discuss and divide specific tasks - Nghi was in charge of collecting signatures and authentication from families on the route, Nam was in charge of educational materials and mobilizing support from the school system in the district, and Yen would be in charge of press communications. In addition, they also discussed contacting several non-governmental organizations operating in the field of highland education to see if they could find any support or experienced advice from similar programs that had faced budget cuts.

"One more thing," Nghi said, his voice lowered, "I think we also need to prepare actual data about the limitations of the digital library project, not to attack, but to present an objective, complete picture for the hearing. Mr. Vinh has agreed to visit Nam Cay next week, this will be a good opportunity for him to see it with his own eyes."

Nam nodded in agreement. "That's right, but I also need to be careful not to turn that trip into an 'ambush' to put him in a corner. I need to show him the truth honestly, so he can draw his own conclusions, without feeling forced or personally attacked."

"I understand," Nghi replied, "I also don't want to turn this into a personal confrontation. Mr. Vinh is not an enemy, he is just doing his job the way he thinks is right. We need to persuade with facts, not with hostility."

That evening, after Nam had left, Nghi sat alone, looking at the planning paper filled with notes and arrows connecting tasks together, feeling both overwhelmed and excited. She never thought she would have to take on the role of a campaign organizer, a job completely different from driving a book cart every day, but she felt that this was what was necessary to protect what her father had built.

She texted Yen, confirmed next week's trip schedule, then made detailed plans for each day of the next eight weeks - this week collecting signatures in Seo Lu and Khuoi Tra, next week bringing Mr. Vinh and Yen to Nam Cay, the following weeks synthesizing documents, preparing presentation content for the official hearing. She carefully records each task in her notebook, interspersed with regular notes about books and each family on the route, as proof that daily work and the fight to protect the program are now blended into one, no longer separate.

Before going to bed, she received another text message from Nam: "Thank you for trusting me to participate in this. I know this is your family's legacy, but I also consider this my own fight, because the children in Nam Cay deserve the best opportunity." Reading that message, Nghi smiled, feeling more clearly than ever that, although the road ahead is still full of challenges, she has by her side people who are willing to go with her to the end, not out of obligation, but because they truly believe in the value of what they are protecting together.

That night, sleep came to Nghi much easier than the previous nights, not because all her worries had disappeared, but because she felt a new steadfastness - the feeling of someone who was no longer alone steering her boat in the middle of a turbulent sea, but with a whole team, sailing in the same direction, towards maintaining the path of books among the Van Thac mountains and forests that her father had worked so hard to pave.

The next morning, Nghi woke up earlier than usual to draft a detailed list of things to do in the first week of the campaign. She called Uncle Bon Senh and asked him to check the entire condition of the car before entering the upcoming period of intense travel, because she knew she would have to travel more than usual to do her daily work and collect signatures and documents for the campaign.

"Don't worry, let me take care of the car," Uncle Bon said over the phone, his voice full of enthusiasm. "I also heard about the program being threatened with budget cuts, everyone in the neighborhood is upset. If you need help with anything, just call, I'm ready."

That enthusiastic support made Nghi even more confident. She realized that the story about the threat of program cuts had begun to spread in the town community, not just limited to those directly involved. Many people, even though they have never directly benefited from the program, still expressed their interest and willingness to lend a hand in one way or another — some promised to sign the petition, others offered to donate more books, others shared information on local social networking groups.

At noon, Nghi stopped by the district market to buy some necessary items for the upcoming trip, and coincidentally met the grocery store owner she had known for a long time, who was a former student of the bookmobile program when she was young. "Miss Nghi, have you heard that the program's budget is about to be cut? When I was a child, I used to read books in your father's car, and remember the fairy tales forever. If you need to contribute, just say so, and I'll mobilize some of my friends who sell in the market to support."

Such unexpected words of encouragement, coming from people that Nghi had never thought of, made her realize that the bookmobile program had silently touched the lives of more people than she thought, not just limited to the four fixed stops on the route. It was a valuable discovery, and she made a mental note — perhaps, the petition should not be limited to the villages, but should extend to the entire town community, those who had, even just once, had their lives touched by the program. She thanked the grocery store owner, promised to return with the petition in a few days, and then continued her unfinished shopping, filled with a new belief that this fight, although difficult, was not a lonely fight.