Chapter 9 — The owner of the car shop behind the school gate

Gia Huy believes that a modern advertising area will solve most of the garage's problems.

He presented his ideas during club activities: replace the old roof, lay new floors, divide the parking area by color, install a notification screen and set aside a corner for "green traffic experience". Users can view electric vehicle models, receive discount codes and learn how to charge the battery.

Bao raised his hand. “Is there a discount code for bread?”

“Not relevant.”

“For me, everything is relevant.”

Khoa looked at the diagram. “Have you considered Mrs. Man's store yet?”

Huy pointed to a small box outside the gate. “Move temporarily to the side.”

“On the side is the fire engine path.”

“Then find another place.”

“Whose other place?”

Huy frowned. “I'm looking for a way to get money.”

Vy looked at the two drawings side by side. Huy's plan is bright, compact, and has expected revenue numbers. The club's current plan is filled with notes, pen marks and an arrow indicating "wheelchair access".

“Advertising screens need electricity,” Vy said. “Who pays the electricity bill?”

“Sponsor.”

“What if the sponsor withdraws?”

“The school will continue to calculate.”

“Continuing is not the plan.”

Huy tapped his pen. “Do you always make people answer until the end?”

“Because the user will be the one bearing the brunt.”

Quynh Chi asked Huy the source of the revenue data. Huy said it was an estimate from the company. She asked for the document name and date of creation. Huy was a bit annoyed, but then sent a sign with the Van Hung logo.

Vy looked at the board. The number of passengers is three times higher than the bus company's actual number. She asked Huy if he included passersby. Huy said the company assumes advertising traffic, not car repairs.

“So it doesn't answer the club's question,” Khoa said.

Shut up.

In the afternoon, the school held a small consultation. Parents, students and company representatives sit together in the meeting room. Khai, the designer last time, presented the perspective image. The screen glows, the floor is clean, Mrs. Man's shop turns into a small counter with a "service partner" sign.

Mrs. Man was invited to sit at the end of the table. She asked if they were to relocate, who would pay the rent for a new place and the cost of moving equipment. Khai said there will be a support package. She asked how long the package would last. Khai said he was thinking.

Vy wrote down the question. Her father sat on the other side, looking straight at the board.

A parent asked if the garage was still open after school. The school representative said we need to look at the protection schedule. A student asked if he could get his car repaired for free. Khai said the experiential service will be limited. Khoa asked what the limit means, who gets priority, and how the spare parts are calculated.

Khai looked at him and replied "it will be determined in the next stage".

Vy saw Khoa clasping his hands under the table. She wanted to speak for her, but remember that helping doesn't always mean interjecting.

Quynh Chi asked if the school could use student images in advertising. The company representative said that if students participate in the experience, they will sign a consent form. Quynh Chi asked the underage person who signed with him. The room fell silent for a beat.

Father Vy spoke up, saying there needs to be a separate process for minors and that consent cannot be assumed just because of participating in school activities. Vy looked at her father, surprised because he answered the question she wanted to ask.

Huy whispered: "Your father also knows how to talk about data."

“He makes contracts.”

“Maybe the contract also needs people.”

The consultation ended without a decision. The school promised to publish the summary and receive comments within seven days. Vy asked Ms. Van for advice Can the club submit a proposal?

“Okay, but the proposal must be about the needs of the garage, not a reaction to the company.”

The group met that night. Huy wants to use the company's data to prove that the project has potential. Khoa wanted to give up everything because he didn't believe it. Quynh Chi suggested placing the two sources side by side, clearly stating the purpose and method of calculation.

Vy said she would ask her father about the source of the revenue table, but did not ask to correct the data. Huy asked what if her father didn't answer. Vy replied that they said it had not been confirmed.

Bao opened the cake box and gave one to each person. "I suggest that before arguing, we eat. The data at that time may not be more accurate, but the tone of voice will be less sharp."

No one objected.

The next day, Khoa discovered a car with a missing handle after the garage closed. The camera cannot film that angle. The owner is a 10th grader. He said the car was old but it was a gift from his brother who was away.

Huy asked if compensation should come from the fund. Khoa said he didn't know who lost it and couldn't use the funds arbitrarily. Vy suggested looking at the entrance and exit schedule, asking the person on duty and checking the tool loan book. Quynh Chi reminded not to post photos of the car to the group.

Finally, the handle was found in an old parts bin. A student took it off to try it out, then forgot to put it back on. He apologized, installed it himself and offered to log the problem. The car owner agreed, but asked to ask first next time.

Khoa added a line to the rules: "Do not remove parts from other people's vehicles without permission."

Vy looked at the text, then asked Huy if the advertising area had a place for such rules.

Huy did not answer immediately. He looked at the perspective on the computer, where there wasn't a single old car with a missing handle.

“Maybe necessary,” Huy said. “Otherwise, it's just a display.”

That was the first time Huy edited a sentence in his idea. Vy noted but did not praise too much. She knows a changing thought needs to be left alone long enough to become actionable.

Huy still wanted to organize an experience day, but he changed his approach. Instead of erecting billboards, he proposed stations: check lights, pump tires, recognize signs, try going over slopes. Each station has questions for users to answer, no code scanning required.

Khoa asked who would clean up after the event. Huy gave the shift schedule. Quynh Chi asked if the photo could be used. Huy provided a separate consent form. Vy asked what if no one agrees. Huy said the program was still held, just without photos.

On the day of testing, Huy encountered a problem. Uncle Tu's car had a misaligned steering wheel, but the instruction sheet did not mention that situation. A group of students did the wrong thing, causing the brake cable to stretch. Khoa stopped, checked and explained that we should not just look at the front wheel.

Huy wrote the error on the board. He wanted to apologize on speaker, but Quynh Chi reminded him that the incident had not caused any injuries. They placed a warning sign at the station and invited Uncle Tu to help write a short instruction.

A marketing department representative came to see and asked why the logo was not placed at each station. Huy said the logo is only on the sponsorship table. The other person said that it is difficult to measure effectiveness. Huy asked if the effectiveness of a child knowing how to self-check the brakes is measured by the number of times he looks at the logo.

The other person did not answer. Vy sees that Huy is learning to use the language of his old job to criticize it.

In the afternoon, a gust of wind toppled the rack. Khoa held on, but a steering wheel hit the table. No one was injured. They stopped at the station and checked Check the distance again. The price should have been anchored to the ground, but the temporary construction team thought the event would only last a few hours.

Huy looked at the plan and said that from now on, "temporary" must also have standards. Vy added that line to the process.

After the event, attendance was lower than expected, but there were seventeen tickets recording safety errors. A teacher sent a photo of the instruction board to the classes. Ms. Hanh praised the test slope for not being perfect, but at least users were invited to give comments on the spot.

Father Vy asked why there were no beautiful pictures. Huy answered yes, but the most beautiful picture is the picture of a student bending down to read tire pressure, his face hidden according to his wishes. Vy's father looked for a long time and then said: "Maybe the company needs to learn how to tell the story without taking over it."

Vy didn't know if he was telling the truth or just testing. She replied that the story always belongs to the person experiencing it, others should only help it be heard clearly.

At the end of the day, Khoa found a loose steering wheel in a pile of tools. He called Huy. The two of them sat down, no one blamed the person who set up the rack. Huy asked Khoa why he kept wanting to check everything.

Khoa said: "Because there are errors that only appear when real people use real things."

Huy nodded and wrote that sentence at the top of his plan for the next day's experience.

That night, Huy sent back the plan, for the first time there was a section "stop the event if there is a risk". Vy asked who had the right to stop. Huy notes Ms. Van, the security guard and any person in charge of safety at the scene. Khoa added that the person stopping does not need to wait for enough signatures if he sees immediate danger.

Vy saw that Huy had put the most unpleasant part first. He no longer just thought the event ran smoothly; he thinks about how to leave it when things go wrong. The plan therefore looks less like an advertisement and more like a real thing.

Vy reread the section on stopping events, then asked Huy if he dared to use it. Huy replied that if he didn't dare, he shouldn't write. He signed in the charge box, for the first time accepting an authority that could cause his program to be canceled.