Chapter 5 — The Path of Remembrance

When I encounter a word I don't know, I look it up in the dictionary. Not a dictionary, here it's called a search engine. Luc's mother gave me a tablet. I'm like reclaiming a mountain, pushing each piece of land forward. Don't tell anyone. Wednesday afternoon, I went to the art club. Ms. Ton gave me a watercolor set. "Don't rush to draw, just play first. Draw whatever you want." I painted Gray Gray. A big gray donkey stood on the mountainside, ears erect, tail swinging, and a carrot in its mouth. Ms. Ton looked for a long time. “When drawing animals, my brushstrokes are especially expressive.” “Because they are my friends.” “Did you raise many animals in the countryside?” "I used to raise donkeys, geese, chickens, ducks and a goat. But that goat didn't suit me very well." Ms. Ton burst out laughing. “Next month there is a district-wide children's art contest, the theme is 'My home'. Do you want to participate?” “Can I draw Gray Gray?” "Of course. Who is Gray Gray?" “My donkey.” “Do you have a donkey in your house?” “Gray Gray is not just a donkey, he is family.” Ms. Ton nodded. “Then draw it.” I don't know what chain reactions this decision will cause later. At that time, I just wanted to draw Gray Gray. Because I miss it. As the days passed, the thorns in the darkness became more and more numerous. During the fourth weekly test, my performance changed slightly. Math seventy-one points, literature seventy points, English forty-three points. English is still dragging its feet, but math and language arts have passed the required level. When Ms. Phuong read the scores in class, when she read my scores, she stopped for a moment. “To Niem Niem, much progress.” Just that one sentence, nothing more. Luc Uyen Dinh is still ranked first. This time, when the whole class clapped, I clapped too. But after class, Trieu Giai Giai stopped by and looked at me with his chin in his hand. "Isn't seventy-one points something to be happy about? Our class average is eighty-five." “At least the direction is right.” "What direction? From the foot of the mountain to the mountainside? Uyen Dinh is at the top." I didn't reply. Because she told the truth, I am indeed still at the foot of the mountain. But she didn't know that I was used to running in real mountains. I'm not afraid of climbing mountains, it just takes time. Something that really upset me happened that afternoon. The school has a "Star every week" election. Each class nominates a student, whose photo and achievements will be posted on the display board in the school lobby. This week, the person Ms. Phuong nominated was Luc Uyen Dinh. In the written achievements section: Excellent academic performance and character, proactively tutoring transfer students with weak backgrounds, demonstrating good friendship between classmates. When I saw the display board, there were a few students from other classes next to it. A chubby boy pointed at it and read it out loud. "Help transfer students with weak backgrounds? Who is it?" The girl next to me said: "I heard there's a new person transferring into their class from the countryside." “Uyen Dinh is really good, beautiful, smart, and kind.” I stood aside, saying nothing. I turned around and left. At the turn of the stairs, I met someone. Lam Tieu Ha. She's in the same class, sits next to me, normally doesn't say much. She wears glasses, her hair is a bit messy, and her uniform's buttons are always buttoned to the top. Seeing me, she hesitated a bit. “Have you seen the display board?” “I see.” “Aren't you angry?” “What's the matter?” “She used your tutoring as an achievement to show off… Don't you feel like she's using you as a stepping stone?” I looked at Lam Tieu Ha. This is the first person since I transferred schools to say this directly. Everyone is praising Luc Uyen Dinh for his kindness. Only she saw that Luc Uyen Dinh's "kindness" was highlighted by stepping on my "incompetence". “Why are you thinking about this?” Lam Tieu Ha pushed her glasses. “Because she used to treat me like that before.” “With you?” "In third grade, my results were not good. She also 'helped' me. After helping for a semester, she was voted as an outstanding young pioneer at the school level. One of the reasons was 'enthusiastically helping students with learning difficulties'." "Afterward

So what?” “After that my performance increased, she stopped helping. Because I am no longer 'difficult' enough, no longer valuable to take advantage of." I leaned against the wall, digesting these words. “How is your performance now?” “Above average. Not high, not low, to the point where she doesn't even pay attention." Lam Tieu Ha stopped for a moment. “I'm not saying this to want you to do anything. I just want to let you know that she's not really kind to you. Don't trust her too much.” Having finished speaking, she left. I stood at the top of the stairs, thinking for a long time. I think of what my mother once said. “The person who doesn't ride a donkey is not necessarily better than the person who rides a donkey.” That night, Luc Uyen Dinh came to tutor me. I said no need, today I want to read books by myself. She was stunned. “What's wrong? Did you not preach well?” “You teach very well, but I want to try studying on my own.” “But my current foundation is still very poor…”