Chapter 10 — The owner of the car shop behind the school gate

Vy discovered that her father's signature in the sketch was not because he said it, but because of an underline of the company name.

In the school meeting room, the consultation file is placed on the table. Ms. Van showed the group copies of the documents allowed to view: survey minutes, concept drawings and a list of unanswered questions. At the bottom of the drawing is the electronic signature of representative Van Hung, who approved funding for the survey phase.

Vy didn't see wrong. That signature was similar to her father's signature on documents at home.

“Your father approved?” Huy asked.

“I don't know which part you approved.”

Khoa said: "So don't jump to conclusions."

Vy felt that this sentence both protected her father and protected her from reacting too quickly. She nodded, then wrote down the exact question: "Is the scope of the signature a survey, design sponsorship or implementation agreement?"

Quynh Chi suggested not taking photos of all documents. She only wrote down the file code, date and content allowed to be extracted. Huy asked why be careful if the group doesn't post. Quynh Chi said reports can be passed on to many people, and a screenshot can easily be taken out of context.

At night, Vy called her father. She didn't ask, "Dad, did you sign the garage sale?" She asked about the scope of the signature on the drawing.

Father was silent for a moment. “Father approved the survey budget, but did not approve the construction plan.”

“So why is the logo already in perspective?”

“Because the company is the sponsor of the survey. They need to put identification in the internal presentation.”

“Whose internal affairs?”

“From the project team.”

“But that copy was brought to school.”

Father exhaled. “It's a process issue.”

“The process problem affects Mrs. Man's shop.”

“Vy, there has been no decision to relocate.”

“But there were drawings and people started to believe it was real.”

Father said he would ask the project team to clarify the scope of the document. Vy asked if he could attend the meeting with the school, as Van Hung's representative, and answer questions about responsibilities. Father agreed, but told her not to use the meeting to pressure him.

"I don't want to force you, Dad. I want to know what can change."

“Then prepare your questions.”

“I'm prepared.”

The meeting took place on Friday. Father Vy came alone, without an assistant. He sat opposite Ms. Van, the vice principal and the design representative. Khoa, Huy, Quynh Chi and Vy sat in the back as a club.

Father confirmed that Van Hung only sponsored the survey and did not commit to construction. He said the logo in the drawing identified the funding source, but admitted the presentation was sent outside the expected scope without clear annotation.

Ms. Man was invited to speak. She asked if the project was not implemented, would the shop still operate as before? The school representative said it is correct now. If implemented, there will be a separate plan and must be agreed upon.

Mrs. Man asked "unifying with whom". The question made the whole room silent.

Father Vy replied: "For the school, the area operators and those whose interests are affected."

Mrs. Man looked at him. "I'm not used to big words. I just need to know before they take the roof off."

Father nodded. “You have the right to receive information before changes are made.”

Khoa sat straighter. Vy saw his hand clench and release.

Huy asked if he kept the current garage, would Van Hung continue to sponsor the roof repair? Father said the company can provide partial support, but not in exchange for advertising rights. Quynh Chi asked if that was recorded in writing. Father replied that he could make a memorandum of understanding.

Vy asked Who will check the quality if the company sponsors it. Father said the school chose an independent unit, Van Hung did not choose instead. Khoa asked where the spare parts came from, and whether they could use compatible ones instead of exclusive ones. Father said the operator decides according to safety standards.

The design representation is a bit annoying. He said without identification and sample products, the project will have difficulty attracting funding. Ms. Van replied that funding cannot be the only reason to change student spaces.

The meeting ended with a list of fourteen questions to answer. There is no decision to keep or remove. But for the first time, what was once on the drawing board has been publicly questioned.

After the meeting, her father called Vy out to the hallway.

“Are you satisfied?”

“No. But I know the next step.”

“Do you think I'm a bad person for signing the drawings?”

Vy looked at him. "I think dad is used to other people looking at the drawings and then waiting for construction. At school, people have to live in the gap between those two things."

Father is not angry. He asked her what she had learned. Vy said she learned that signatures have a wider range and impact.

Father smiled very lightly. “This sentence sounds like a sentence in the file.”

“You can rewrite your life to be more normal.”

"Don't. For once in your life, let the difficult sentence stand."

Khoa waited for her in the garage. He asked if anything changed at the meeting.

“Not decided yet.”

“Are you sad?”

“No. Making a decision early is sometimes scarier.”

Khoa gave her a small snail. “This was found under the conference table.”

Vy looked at it. “Where did you bring the snails from?”

"I don't know. But it says undetermined."

Vy burst out laughing. Two people stood in the garage, amidst the smell of old rain and the sound of the car locking. Behind the gate, a big project still doesn't know where it will go. And in front of them, a screw needs to be found in the right car.

Vy brought the sketch home and placed it next to the papers her father sent. She used a pencil to circle every detail: glass roof, rolling doors, charging area, signs. In the margin, she wrote questions from Khoa and Mrs. Man. In one place she wrote "beautiful", then crossed it out, replacing it with "who finds it beautiful, under what conditions?"

Father entered the room and looked at the drawing. He asked her if she was going to do a design assignment. Vy said she was trying to understand the scope of his signature. The words made him stop.

“You think Dad signed off on the rebuild?”

“I think dad signed part of it, but I don't know what part it is.”

He opened the computer and searched for survey records. The document clearly states that the budget is only for measurement and consultation, but in an appendix there is a picture of the future garage. Vy asked why the appendix did not have the line "not yet approved". Dad said the design side put it in a marketing presentation, not a legal filing.

“If readers only look at the presentation, they will think differently.”

“I know.”

“So why do you still allow it?”

He was silent. Vy saw that silence was no longer an avoidance, but the first time he realized that the company's process had created a different meaning than what he signed.

Dad suggested sending an email to explain, but Vy asked if she could let Ms. Van and the group see it first. He agreed. She didn't want her father to write a perfect apology; she wanted people to read the original document correctly.

The next day, Ms. Van held an open meeting. Huy brought a projector, Quynh Chi brought a notebook, Khoa brought a silver screw. Representative Van Hung also came, but did not sit at the chairing table.

Vy asks each question: what is the survey intended to measure, who owns the data, who approves the design, and who has the right to respond? If not, will the repair area be kept? She didn't ask in an accusing tone. She only asked for a written answer.

A teacher asked if the survey showed that the garage was unsafe, would it have to be closed immediately? Ms. Van said it may have to be limited, and that's why they need a temporary solution. Khoa asked if the temporary plan had a budget. Company representative notes.

The meeting ended with fourteen open-ended questions. Huy wanted to have a conclusion right away, but Quynh Chi said having the question correctly written was a step forward. Vy looked at her father's signature on the screen, then looked at the silver screw Khoa placed on the table.

“What did you give me this for?” she asked.

“Remind you that not one thing can replace another. A signature does not replace consent. Drawings do not replace experience.”

Vy took the screw and put it in the general spare parts box. She knows that from today, everything she says will be considered the words of a businessman's daughter. The only way to not get stuck in that label is to accept that it exists, and then make it clear enough that the other person doesn't have to guess the rest.

Before going to sleep, Vy wrote an email to the group: "I will publish all direct contact with Van Hung, but will not share documents outside the permitted scope. If anyone sees me using my privacy, please say so immediately." She read it again and found the last sentence scarier than the first. Sending means she allows others to check on her.

Faculty responded: "Received. Tomorrow I will ask about the survey budget." Vy smiled. She didn't need someone to defend her; She needs someone who dares to ask the right questions.

She put the silver snail in the box, then went to bed later than usual. There would be more questions tomorrow, and this time she didn't want to dodge them.

Vy turned off the light, but left the notebook open on the table. Next to the question about signatures is a new line: “don't turn curiosity into ownership.”