Chapter 10 — The Machine of Dreams

"I just received an invitation from Nguyễn Huệ school," Mr. Vinh announced at the meeting at the beginning of the week, holding a printed piece of paper from the email he had just received. "They organized a robot testing exchange between schools in the area, before the official qualifiers take place two weeks from now. This is a good opportunity for students to see how their robots compare to their opponents, and at the same time gain more experience."

"Nguyễn Huệ School?" Tấn Phát raised his eyebrows. "That team made it to the regional finals last year, teacher. I heard their captain is a 'legend' in the school Robotics world."

"Trịnh Bảo Long," teacher Vinh nodded in confirmation. "I know the counselor there. He is truly a remarkable talent, but he is also a very fair-play person, not the type who likes to use tricks to win. You will have many things to learn from this exchange."

Bảo Châu glanced at Hoàng Nam and noticed that his expression was slightly tense when he heard the name of such a highly regarded opponent, but he quickly regained his familiar calmness and nodded in agreement to participate in the exchange.

That Saturday morning, the entire Robotics team of Lê Quý Đôn school traveled by school bus to the sports hall of Nguyễn Huệ school, which had been arranged into a temporary test field with full of simulated obstacles in accordance with the standards of the upcoming regional qualifiers. The atmosphere there was more bustling than Bảo Châu imagined, with nearly six robot teams from different schools in the area, each team bringing their own robot to test and interact.

"Hello, Lê Quý Đôn school friends!" a voice rang out, confident and friendly, as the team entered the hall. A tall young man with an athletic appearance and a bright smile came to shake hands with each member of the team. "I'm Bảo Long, captain of the Robotics team at Nguyễn Huệ school. Nice to meet you."

"Hello, I'm Hoàng Nam," Hoàng Nam replied, shaking the other person's hand with a polite but somewhat reserved attitude, completely different from Bảo Long's natural openness.

"Ah, Đinh Hoàng Nam," Bảo Long nodded, his eyes sparkling with genuine excitement. "I've been following your achievements since tenth grade. You're one of the few people who make me really try my best every time I compete in a group match."

That sincere compliment seemed to surprise Hoàng Nam. The initial hesitation gradually disappeared, replaced by a rare light smile. "I've heard a lot about your team too," he replied. "Went to the regional finals last year, right?"

"That's right, unfortunately we lost so close in the national finals," Bảo Long shrugged, not showing any sadness about that defeat. "But this year we have improved a lot. Let's wait and see how today's test goes."

Bảo Long's eyes glanced over each member of Lê Quý Đôn's team, then stopped at Bảo Châu, who was standing slightly back, curiously observing the lively exchange atmosphere around him.

"And this guy I've never met before," he said, moving closer, his warm and gallant smile clearly visible. "I'm Bảo Long. What part of the team are you in charge of?"

"I'm Bảo Châu, in charge of overall design and visual experience," she replied, shaking her hand, slightly surprised by her natural friendliness.

"Oh, design?" Bảo Long raised his eyebrows, his eyes lit up with interest. "No wonder your robot looks much more beautiful than what I've seen other teams bring. Our team is full of boys, designing the robot is simply 'as long as it can run', it looks a bit rough. Maybe I have to ask you for some tips."

"I'm willing to share a few tips," Bảo Châu replied with a smile, feeling comfortable with the open attitude, without any unpleasant rivalry from the other person.

From behind, Bảo Châu noticed Hoàng Nam observing the conversation with an unpredictable expression, not necessarily uncomfortable, but also unable to hide a bit of wariness. She smiled secretly in her heart at that rare expression, but didn't have time to think anymore because the joint testing session had already begun.

Throughout that morning, the teams took turned letting their robots test each obstacle, observing and learning from each other in a friendly atmosphere, without the fierce competition that Bảo Châu had feared. When it was team Lê Quý Đôn's robot's turn to challenge the inclined ramp - the obstacle that the team had worked hard to solve the central problem before - the robot with a navy blue shell mixed with silver glided smoothly, receiving applause from the surrounding teams.

"That's impressive," Bảo Long commented, approaching Hoàng Nam after the robot completed the challenge. "The way you guys solve the climbing problem is much smarter than the way our team is doing. We are still struggling to increase engine power without thinking about adjusting the center of gravity."

"It's thanks to Bảo Châu's idea," Hoàng Nam said, without hesitation in giving credit, his eyes turned towards her with obvious pride. "She looked at the problem from the perspective of aesthetics and visual balance, which turned out to coincide with the necessary physical principles."

"Very interesting," Bảo Long nodded, looking at Bảo Châu with sincere admiration. "Maybe that's what makes the difference between a team that's just good at technique and a team that's truly great — knowing how to combine different perspectives."

The exchange ended in the early afternoon with a short friendly test match between team Lê Quý Đôn and team Nguyễn Huệ, without official scoring, simply for both teams to rub against each other and learn from experience. The match was dramatic, with the robots of both teams performing excellently, causing the surrounding audience to cheer enthusiastically. In the end, Nguyễn Huệ's team won a close victory thanks to their slightly better speed, but the atmosphere after the match was still happy, without the bitterness often seen in tense competitions.

"It was a great match," Bảo Long said, coming to shake Hoàng Nam's hand after the match ended. "See you again in the official regional qualifiers. Then it probably won't be as easy to beat us as it was today."

"Wait and see," Hoàng Nam replied, a rare confident smile appearing on his lips, a confidence that Bảo Châu realized had returned much more clearly than in the past stressful weeks.

On the way home, sitting on the school bus, Bảo Châu looked out the window, thinking about the meaningful exchange she had just had. She realized that competition in the world of school robotics did not have to be as hostile as she had imagined - Bảo Long, despite being a formidable opponent, still showed respect and a sincere spirit of learning, something that made her love this subject even more.

"There are exactly two weeks left," Hoàng Nam said, sitting down next to her on the bus, his voice mixed with a bit of worry and excitement. "Official Regional Qualifiers."

"Are we ready yet?" Bảo Châu asked, even though in her heart she believed the answer was yes.

"Not completely perfect yet," Hoàng Nam admitted, "but I think this is the best version our team has ever had, even compared to last year. And a lot of it is thanks to you."

Bảo Châu turned to look at him, met those sincere eyes watching her, and in that moment, between the hum of the bus engine and the afternoon sunlight filtering through the window, she felt a firm belief that regardless of the upcoming qualifying results, the journey she went on with this Robotics team, with the person sitting next to her, was something worth more than any medal.

Behind the two of them, Tấn Phát sat next to Đức, deliberately lowering his voice to a whisper but still loud enough for both of them to hear. "Have you noticed how that Bảo Long guy looks at Bảo Châu?" he teased, poking Đức's shoulder. "If Hoàng Nam doesn't hurry, you might lose your designer."

"Tấn Phát, shut up," Hoàng Nam turned his head and shouted, his ears began to turn red, causing Bảo Châu to bite her lip to keep from laughing out loud.

"There's nothing to be so angry about," Tấn Phát shrugged, smiling happily, clearly achieving his teasing purpose. "Unless you really have something to worry about."

Hoàng Nam did not respond, just turned his face to the window, but Bảo Châu could still clearly see that her ears were still pink, and in her heart, a small, warm joy quietly rose at that reaction. She looked out the glass window, watching the roadside trees pass by in the fading afternoon sunlight, feeling both excited and nervous thinking about the next two weeks—not only the regional qualifiers that were approaching, but also the fragile things, not yet clearly named, that were quietly blooming between her and her teammate sitting right next to her.