Chapter 17 — The Path of Remembrance

“Who is your mother?” “Ha Tieu Man.” Professor Tran was stunned. “Did Ha Tieu Man draw ‘The Gray Donkey’?” “Do you know too?” "She had an early watercolor illustration of a goose standing in the rain. I saw that at a small exhibition, and it made a deep impression." “Maybe it's a portrait of your big goose.” Professor Tran burst out laughing. "You go home and help me tell your mother something. If she's interested, I'd like to invite her to the youth class to share a session as a guest." "Yes." Back home, I told Luc's mother the story of the youth class. Luc's mother was very happy and said that from now on every Saturday she would be in charge of taking me to school. Luc Uyen Dinh sat next to listen. “Does a professor at the art academy teach Niem Niem?” “That's right, it's also free.” Mother Luc said. “Really good.” Luc Uyen Dinh's voice was lighter than usual. That night, I heard Luc Uyen Dinh practicing the piano in the room. She played a song I didn't know, the tempo was very fast, there were a few places where she hit the wrong notes and then started again. Keep replaying the same passage, keep making mistakes, keep starting over. When practicing the piano before, she had never made so many mistakes. I closed the door and didn't listen anymore. I can't control her affairs. I just need to do my job well. Next month's exam scores are announced. Math ninety-three points. Literature eighty-nine points. English sixty-eight points. Total score two hundred and fifty. Eleventh in class. Forty-seventh place overall. The whole grade has two hundred and sixty students. When reading the scores in class, Ms. Phuong read the first fifteen people in one go. This time, my name is on it. The moment my name was read, the entire class's attention gathered. Not surprising. It's confirmation. Confirming something that many people have vaguely felt but did not want to admit. To Niem Niem is not a vase of flowers, not a girl from the countryside who only relies on painting and jogging to make enough appearances. She's really catching up. Trieu Giai Giai's face turned gray. Luc Uyen Dinh still smiled and clapped as usual. But her eyes stopped on the exam paper for a moment. Ninety-three points. Only five points behind her ninety-eight points. Only five points behind. This five-point gap is no longer a difference. It's a threat. The omen before the storm is always quiet. The week after the monthly exam, everything looked calm and peaceful. Luc Uyen Dinh is still a good student, Trieu Giai Giai is still the one who follows her, Ms. Phuong still favors good students. But under the silence something is stirring. Tuesday afternoon, while I was drawing in the art room, Lam Tieu Ha ran in breathless. “Nien Niem, something happened.” “What?” “Trieu Giai Giai posted a paragraph in the class group, saying his mother's picture book was suspected of plagiarism.” The pen in my hand stopped. "What?" Lam Tieu Ha gave me the phone. In the group, Trieu Giai Giai posted a screenshot of an online article, titled: "The series 'Gray Donkey' by picture book artist Ha Tieu Man is suspected of plagiarizing the work of a Japanese picture book artist." The article posts two comparison pictures, one is my mother's painting, the other is an illustration in a Japanese picture book. The layout is indeed quite similar. But it's just "somewhat similar". Just like you draw a donkey standing on a mountainside, and someone else also draws a donkey standing on a mountainside, the composition will naturally be the same. But the title uses the four words "suspected of plagiarism", and adds two comparison pictures, which at a glance makes it easy to believe. Trieu Giai Giai also added a sentence: "Everyone, see for yourself, I don't know if it's true." A classic "I don't know if it's true" sentence. The translation is: “I want everyone to know about this.” The class group exploded. Some people say it's impossible. Some people say that To Niem Niem's painting talent is also fake. Someone said it was no wonder she improved so quickly, but it turned out that there was a plagiarism gene in the family. That last sentence almost made me crush my phone. Lam Tieu Ha looked at me. “What are you going to do?” “Don't rush.” I returned the phone to her, took my phone watch and called my mother. “Mom, someone said your picture books are religious

i.” Mom was silent for two seconds on the other end of the line then burst out laughing. “Again.” “What does ‘again’ mean?” “Three years ago someone posted this. At that time, the publisher verified with the Japanese side. The similar layout is purely a coincidence. The publishing time of the two books was half a year apart, but the mother's manuscript was three months earlier than the other's. The publisher and editor on the other side both confirmed that there was no plagiarism." “So why is it being dug up now?” “Maybe someone wants to cause trouble. Don't worry, mom will handle it." I hung up the phone. When I returned to class, the entire class's eyes were on me. Trieu Giai Giai sat in his seat, looking innocent. Luc Uyen Dinh is reading a book, as if she doesn't know anything. I walked in front of Trieu Giai Giai. “The article you posted was corrected three years ago. The publisher has a complete copyright verification record. You can go check it out yourself.”