Chapter 10 — The Child You Never Knew

The night the preliminary round results came out, the elimination list surprised everyone. Among the two eliminated families, there is Trieu Hang and his son. Trieu Hang immediately became angry. He rushed in front of the director and slammed the table: "On what basis did you eliminate me? Go look at the data, the audience's love for Nhac Nhac is ranked third!" The director had an awkward look on his face and took out the judges' summary score sheet. "Teacher Trieu, scores are evaluated in many aspects, not only looking at the audience's votes, but also at the level of task completion and the chemistry between father and son. In the previous practice mission Nhac Nhac gave up halfway, receiving a very heavy point deduction."

"The boy gave up because he fell! Even if he falls, aren't you allowed to retreat?"

The director was speechless. The producer - Mr. Ton - came from the side to mediate: "Mr. Trieu, calm down. This result is compiled by the judges, not decided by any individual." Trieu Hang's eyes were bloodshot. He carried his son back to the resting area. Nhac Nhac cried the whole way. Trieu Hang took off Nhac Nhac's jacket to wipe his son's tears. The moment he rolled up his sleeve, he saw a yellowish bruise on the inside of his son's arm.

“Nac Nhac,” Trieu Hang gently rubbed the bruise, his voice cracked, “What is this?”

Nhac Nhac sobbed. “It happened like that when I ran the relay last time.” Nhac Nhac said nothing, tears fell even more.

“Nac Nhac, tell me, how did this happen?” Trieu Hang's voice trembled.

Nhac Nhac shook her head, buried her face in her father's chest, her voice sad: "She said if I tell anyone else, I will not be able to appear on TV anymore." For a moment, Trieu Hang stopped breathing.

"Who? Who said?"

Nhac Nhac doesn't say the name. But the boy's eyes suddenly glanced toward the end of the hallway. There, Wen Tam Duyet was talking and laughing with Doa Doa's mother - Ms. Luu - coming. Trieu Hang hugged his son tightly in his arms, his whole body felt like he had been splashed with cold ice water. His lips opened and closed again, finally not saying a word. He bowed his head and whispered in Nhac Nhac's ear: "I know. I won't let anyone bully you anymore." He hugged the child and left. When passing by the door of Khuong Niem's rest area, he stopped walking. Khuong Niem was sitting inside peeling apples for Tieu Chau. Seeing his expression, she put down the knife. The two looked at each other for two seconds. Trieu Hang's lips moved, as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she only said one sentence: "My child, please watch carefully." Then he left. Khuong Niem stared at his back, the apple peeling knife in her hand slowly placed on the table. Tieu Chau looked up from the book: "Mom, Uncle Trieu seems to have cried."

“Is it sad because Nhac Nhac was eliminated?”

"Not necessarily." Khuong Niem gave the peeled apple to her child, "Chau Chau, do you remember the story you told me before? The story of Wen Tam Duyet pinching Nhac Nhac during the relay race."

“I remember.”

“If someone asks you, are you willing to tell it again?”

Tieu Chau took a bite of the apple, chewed it a few times, then swallowed, nodding very seriously: "What I said is the truth. The truth is the same no matter how many times you say it." The final is scheduled for Sunday afternoon. The location was moved from the studio to the film's largest hall school, broadcast live across the network, the number of people pre-ordered to watch has exceeded 30 million. The format is four families PK (elimination match), through three rounds of tasks, the family with the highest score will win the championship along with an education fund worth five hundred thousand yuan. Two days before the final, Pho Tu Nien went to the filming base for the third time. This time he did not ask his assistant to convey the word, but appeared directly at Khuong Niem's hotel room door. Khuong Niem opened the door and saw him, but there was no big reaction. “What did you come for?”

“Withdraw attorney letter.” Deputy Tu Nien brought out a file of documents.

Khuong Niem took it and turned two pages. It is true that the statement withdrew the request for DNA testing.

"Why?" she asked.

Pho Tu Nien was silent for a moment. He stood under the hallway light, without the overbearing expression on his face like the previous meetings.

“Ha Than reported some things to me.” He said, “About Wen Tam Duyet.”

Khuong Niem's finger stopped on the fold of the document.

“The program's editing room.” Pho Tu Nien's voice was very low, "Her assistant has been here. Some documents have been modified."

Khuong Niem said nothing.

"In addition," Pho Tu Nien looked straight into her eyes, "The video was from three years ago. I asked Ha Than to re-investigate. The original material and the distributed version are not the same."

The hallway is very quiet. The sound of the TV from the next room echoed faintly, broadcasting the weather forecast.

“It took me three years to remember to go investigate.” Khuong Niem's voice did not sound happy or sad.

Pho Tu Nien's jaw muscles tensed. He makes no excuses, nor apologies.

"On the final day," he said, "My people will not interfere in anything. From my mother's side, I will handle it. The title your child deserves, no one will take it away."

“The boy doesn't need your favor to get his rank.” Khuong Niem closed the file, "He's five years old, he earned it himself."

Pho Tu Nien stood there, his lips moving, as if he still wanted to say something more. But Khuong Niem closed the door. Before the door closed, he saw a pile of Tieu Chau's clothes and props on the bed in the room. Tieu Chau was lying face down on the pillow, sleeping soundly, one hand on her mother's notebook, the open page was filled with written plans and schedules. The door closes. Pho Tu Nien stood in the hallway for a long time, then left.