Chapter 22 — The Child You Never Knew

The Union's interview was held in a gray office building, unremarkable on the outside, but once inside, each classroom was equipped with soundproofing and surveillance cameras. Children interviewed flew in from all over the country, eleven in total. The youngest child is four and a half years old, the oldest child is six years old. Tieu Chau is the only child with only her mother accompanying her. Other children, if not both parents are present, also bring the teacher along professionally. At the registration counter, a middle-aged man wearing a gray suit noticed Khuong Niem. He walked over and handed over a business card.

"Miss Jiang? I am the person in charge of the East China region of the Union. The principal of Kaiming school mentioned your son's evaluation results to me."

Khuong Niem received the business card and glanced at it. "Thank."

"The interview is divided into two rounds. In the morning there is a written test, in the afternoon there is a review interview. The review takes place in a three-on-one format, three judges facing one child, parents are not allowed to be present."

"I know."

“There's one more thing.” The person in charge lowered his voice, "Among the judges today is one of the founders of the Alliance. He rarely appears, especially this year. If your child performs excellently, there is a possibility that he will receive a direct admission."

Khuong Niem nodded to show that he understood. Before the interview started, she squatted in the hallway to adjust Tieu Chau's collar. Today the boy is wearing his favorite blue polo shirt, a shirt Khuong Niem bought online for forty-nine yuan.

“Are you nervous?”

“Not nervous.” Tieu Chau really didn't look stressed at all, he observed the other children and parents walking in the hallway with calm eyes.

“So when you go inside, remember to do your best.”

"Mom." Tieu Chau suddenly said, "If I pass the exam, will you be happy?"

“Of course.”

“What if I fail the exam?”

"It's fun. Because you tried."

Tieu Chau tilted her head slightly, thinking. "When mom said this, the corner of her mouth was not tilted at all. It was the truth." Khuong Niem burst out laughing. “Come in quickly.” The morning written exam lasts two hours. Khuong Niem sat in a chair in the waiting area, surrounded by ten parents with varying levels of anxiety. Some people walked back and forth, some people continuously scrolled through their phones, some people closed their eyes and took deep breaths. Khuong Niem took out a magazine from the hotel room and read a few pages of articles about children's education. In the middle of reading, my phone vibrated, it was a strange number in the capital. She picked up the phone. "Hello?"

"Miss Khuong Niem, I am the person in charge of Khai Minh School's Genius Class project. There is something I need to inform you of in advance." The other person's voice seemed tense, "This morning we received an anonymous letter of accusation. The letter accused your son's performance in the variety show of being pre-prepared by the production crew and the script, doubting his true ability. The letter has been forwarded to the Alliance's evaluation board."

Khuong Niem's fingers slowly tightened.

"We will provide the original copy of this letter for you to see. But I must remind you that if the evaluation board considers the denunciation content to be credible, the interview results may be shelved pending investigation."

“Anonymous. No words Signed, postmarked from Lam Giang."

Khuong Niem hung up the phone. She sat on the chair without moving, the magazine in her hand was open to the same page, without flipping through it for three minutes. Lam Giang. Anonymous. Wen Tam Duyet has been prosecuted, she herself cannot do anything. But there are still people behind her. Khuong Niem opened her phone and sent a text message to Ha Than: *"Who else in Lam Giang can work for Wen Tam Duyet in Lam Giang?"* Ha Than replied very quickly: *"Her mother. The old lady of the On family. Let me check.”* Twenty minutes later Ha Than responded: *”Confirmed. The denunciation letter was sent by Wen Tam Duyet's mother to a private detective company. The detective company received the application and compiled a report, the core content of which was suspicion that Khuong Du Chau's performance on the show was the result of previous training by Khuong Niem. The evidence is cutting a few photos of Khuong Niem and Tieu Chau talking in the rest area from the backstage of the show, implying that Khuong Niem was telling the boy."*