Chapter 10 — The Path of Remembrance

After scoring is completed, the results are announced. This round has a total of thirty-seven works, with one first prize, three second prizes and five third prizes. First prize is me. When my name was read, the boy drawing a horse next to me opened his mouth wide. "You? Are you only in fifth grade?" Ms. Ton stood behind the judges' table, smiling. At the award ceremony, the head of the jury gave me a certificate of merit and an envelope. "Little friend, your paintings are very vibrant. Do you study by yourself or do you have a teacher to teach you?" “My mother drew pictures, I sat next to her and watched and gradually learned to draw.” “What does your mother do?” “Draw picture books.” The head of the department nodded. "In this envelope is a letter of recommendation from the competition round. My work has been nominated to participate in a city-level children's art exhibition next month." My hand holding the envelope trembled. “City level?” "That's right. Citywide exhibition. If selected, there will also be a special bonus." I brought the first prize certificate to school. On Monday morning, Ms. Ton reported the news to the teaching department. The teaching department posts notices on the bulletin board in the school lobby. “Warmly congratulations to To Niem Niem, Year 3 class, for winning first prize in the Districtwide Children's Art Contest and being nominated to participate in the city-level exhibition.” Above is also attached a photo of my white goose painting. Before self-study in the morning, Luc Uyen Dinh stood in front of the bulletin board and looked for a long time. Trieu Giai Giai stood next to her, his face extremely unsightly. I passed behind them. Trieu Giai Giai turned back, her lips moved but in the end she couldn't say anything. Maybe because a student from another class just walked by and gave me a thumbs up. Luc Uyen Dinh spoke up. “Nien Niem, great job, first prize!” "Thank." “I saw the photo of your painting, it's really beautiful.” “Not that one.” "What?" "The last painting I saw was ruined, so I painted another one." Her expression froze for a moment. "Destroyed? Haven't you already found it?" "Found it, but it was crumpled. So I drew a new one." I looked at her. "This new one is even more beautiful. So thank you to the person who destroyed my painting." Luc Uyen Dinh's smile remained the same. But her hand had tightened a corner of her skirt. The impact that the first prize in the art competition brings is greater than I thought. First of all, Ms. Phuong's attitude towards me changed. Not better, but more complicated. Now when she looked at me, her expression had an additional layer of emotion that was hard to put into words. Perhaps she felt that a math student with only thirty-two points won first prize in fine arts in the whole district, this did not fit her cognitive framework. Next are the classmates. Previously, besides Lam Tieu Ha, no one proactively talked to me. Now, during recess, a few girls came to ask me about painting. “To Niem Niem, the goose you drew is really fierce, how did you draw it so fierce?” "Because geese are inherently evil. Have you ever seen geese chase people?" "Not yet." “Then next time I come to my hometown, I will ask the geese to perform for you.” They laughed. Not mockingly, but laughing because it's really interesting. Trieu Giai Giai's attitude towards me also changed, from openly mocking to insinuating. “Lately, To Niem Niem has really stood out. Everywhere I go, people recognize me.” "There's nothing terrible about being good at drawing. There's no drawing exam in university entrance exams." She said this in front of the whole class. Luc Uyen Dinh did not answer, just flipped through the textbook. But a girl who had rarely talked to me before replied softly. "When taking the university entrance exam, you don't have to be jealous of others." Trieu Giai Giai's face immediately turned red. "Who's jealous? I'm just presenting the truth!" The girl didn't speak anymore, but a few people in the class bowed their heads and laughed. This is the first time since transferring schools that someone has helped me in return. It feels pretty good. But what actually changes the situation is another matter. The scores of the sixth weekly test were announced. Math eighty-eight points, literature eighty-five points, English sixty-one points. English has finally surpassed sixty. Not a terrible score. But my ranking from seventh on countdown became nineteenth from the top. Whole class c

Out of thirty-six people, I ranked nineteenth. Average level. No longer standing last. When reading the scores, Ms. Phuong paused for two seconds. "To Niem Niem, math eighty-eight, literature eighty-five, English sixty-one. The overall score improved significantly." This time she didn't say the cliche "keep it up". She looked at me, her eyes slightly different. It was the look of "this student may not be the same as my previous judgment". After school, Luc's father came to pick us up. After getting on the bus, Luc Uyen Dinh showed the scorecard to Luc's father. Her scores are still perfect or near perfect in all subjects. “Dad, Niem Niem also did quite well this time.” Luc's father took it and looked at it. "Nien Niem has reached eighty-eight? Very good, this is a good rate of progress." He looked at me through the rearview mirror. "How did you do it? Did Uyen Dinh teach you?" “I read books by myself.” “Is it possible to go from thirty-two points to eighty-eight by reading a book by yourself?”