Chapter 15 — The Machine of Dreams

The regional semi-finals take place on Sunday morning, the final day of qualifying. Only the four strongest teams in the entire region remained, and Lê Quý Đôn's team had to face the first-ranked team in the entire tournament - a team from a specialized school with a tradition of reaching the national finals for many years in a row.

"The strongest opponent ever," Hoàng Nam said, his voice serious as the team gathered before the match, reviewing videos of their opponents' previous matches on their tablets. "Their robots have much higher speed and accuracy than ours. But their weakness is that the center of gravity is too high, making climbing significantly slower."

"So the strategy is to take advantage of the steep section to compensate for the slower speed in other parts," Tấn Phát summarized, nodding decisively.

The match took place as expected - the opponent quickly took the lead in the first seconds thanks to their superior speed, but Lê Quý Đôn's team persistently pursued, taking advantage of every small opportunity to narrow the gap. Coming to the decisive incline, Lê Quý Đôn's team's robot glided smoothly while the opponent struggled, taking nearly three precious seconds to overcome this obstacle.

When the final whistle sounded, the scoreboard displayed the results, causing the whole stadium to be silent for a moment before exploding with cheers - Lê Quý Đôn's team won with a difference of only two points, officially qualified for the regional qualifiers, and won a ticket to attend the national finals.

"WE DID IT!" Tấn Phát shouted, his voice almost cracking with excitement, hugging Đức and twirling both of them around. The whole team rushed to hug each other in the middle of the field, tears mixed with laughter, three long years of waiting and effort were finally rewarded with this glorious moment.

Bảo Châu, in the embrace of the whole team, found Hoàng Nam's eyes looking at her from the opposite side, eyes filled with happiness that could not be expressed in words. He walked over, and in that moment, amidst the loud cheers of the stands, the two simply held each other's hands tightly, without needing to say anything else, letting their emotions speak for themselves.

The award ceremony took place immediately afterward, with representatives of the organizing committee presenting certificates and small cups to the four best teams in the region. When the name of Lê Quý Đôn school was announced, teacher Vinh, standing next to the team, could not hide the tears of happiness rolling down his cheeks, an image that deeply touched Bảo Châu - the teacher who had silently accompanied and believed in this club for many years, finally witnessed the worthy results.

But that joy didn't last long. When the team was packing up their belongings and preparing to leave the competition area, Hoàng Nam's phone kept vibrating non-stop. He looked at the screen, his bright face suddenly darkened.

"Sorry, I have to answer the phone," he told the team, walking to a deserted corner to answer the phone.

Bảo Châu, standing nearby rearranging the toolbox, accidentally overheard part of the conversation. Hoàng Nam's voice became increasingly tense, fading as if he was trying to suppress something.

"Yes, I know... No, I didn't forget my extra class schedule... Yes, I'll be back as soon as I can..."

When he turned back, his face had regained its calm expression, but Bảo Châu still recognized how forced her smile was. "What's up?" she asked softly, as the two stood slightly apart from the group.

"Nothing," Hoàng Nam replied, his tone familiar every time he wanted to avoid a certain topic. "It's just that my mom called to remind me of the extra class schedule for tonight."

"What's so important to learn that you have to keep calling?" Bảo Châu asked, unable to hide her curiosity and worry.

Hoàng Nam was silent for a moment, as if considering whether to tell the truth or not. "The cram class evaluates ability," he finally answered, his voice quiet. "My parents registered me at the beginning of the year, preparing for the medical entrance exam later."

"Medical industry?" Bảo Châu was surprised, trying to combine this new information with the image of Hoàng Nam passionately talking about aerodynamics, about every technical detail of the robot that she had been familiar with for many months. "But I thought you were planning to enter the Engineering field, something related to Mechanics or Robotics?"

"That's what I want," Hoàng Nam replied, his voice becoming lower and heavier compared to the excitement a few minutes ago. "But it's not what my parents want. Both are doctors, my whole family has been in the medical field since my grandparents' generation. For them, spending time with the Robotics Club is just... a temporary hobby, not a serious career path."

At that moment, a luxurious black car stopped right in front of the stadium gate, and a middle-aged woman, neatly dressed, with a serious appearance got out, her eyes scanning the area until stopping at Hoàng Nam.

"Hoàng Nam," she called, her voice even but containing an undeniable authority. "Mom came to pick me up early. This afternoon I have to go to cram class at four o'clock."

The whole team turned around to look, the happy atmosphere just now suddenly became awkward. Hoàng Nam paused for a moment, his face flashed with a complex expression — both shyness and something like familiar resignation.

"Mom, my team just won the national finals," he said, trying to keep his voice calm, but Bảo Châu still recognized a slight bit of hope in those words, as if she was praying that her mother would share the joy with the team.

Doctor Tran Thi Ngoc Mai looked at her son for a moment, her eyes never changing their original serious expression. "I'm happy for you," she said, her tone polite but distant, without any of the warmth of a mother congratulating her child on his achievement. "But you need to remember your priorities clearly. The aptitude test is only a few months away, you can't let these extracurricular activities take up all your preparation time."

"I know," Hoàng Nam replied, his voice quieter, bowing his head to avoid his mother's eyes.

"Let's go," she said, without looking at anyone else in the team, turned and walked towards the car. "Say goodbye to your friends."

Hoàng Nam turned to the whole team, his face full of guilt. "Sorry everyone, I have to go home first," he said, trying to keep his smile but couldn't hide his awkwardness. "Congratulations on the team's victory. I'll text you later."

The whole team said goodbye to him with mixed congratulations and confusion at the unexpected situation. Bảo Châu stood and watched the car leave, a feeling of anxiety rising in her heart, replacing the joy of victory that had filled him just a few minutes ago.

"What's going on?" Thục Hiền asked on the phone when Bảo Châu called to recount the whole incident on the way home, her voice equally worried. "That sounds serious."

"I don't know either," Bảo Châu admitted, looking out the bus window, her mood mixed between pride in the victory she had just achieved and vague anxiety about the future. "But I have a feeling this is just the beginning of a much bigger problem."

All the way home, Bảo Châu kept thinking about Hoàng Nam's eyes when his mother walked in - the familiar resignation, the fragile hope that was quickly extinguished, and the invisible but clear distance between him and his family. She realized that behind the confident and talented appearance of the head of the Robotics Club that she had grown to love, was a silent battle that he was still carrying alone, between the passion he pursued and the heavy expectations his family placed on him from a very young age. And she wondered whether today's brilliant victory was strong enough to change anything in that war, or was it simply a short silence before the real storm struck.

That evening, after the bus brought the team back to school safely and everyone said goodbye to each other and left, Bảo Châu still did not receive any text messages from Hoàng Nam as he promised. She sat in the room, looking at the silent phone screen, the feeling of insecurity growing with each passing minute. Finally, nearly ten o'clock at night, a short message appeared.

"Sorry for being quiet all evening. The extra class took longer than expected. Thank you for everything today, really. Good night."

Bảo Châu read and reread that short message, feeling the fatigue behind each word, even though she tried to keep her tone normal. She typed out a few lines of encouragement, then put down the phone and lay looking up at the ceiling in the dark, her heart heavy with a vague premonition that the joy of brilliant victory that morning might just be the calm before the storm, and that the road ahead, even though the team had won a valuable ticket to the national finals, would have more unpredictable challenges than any steep slope on the field.