Chapter 2 — Tuition Fees for Other People's Daughters

A few minutes later, the girls looked at each other, their momentum reduced by more than half. Luu Tinh threw down thirty yuan, and before leaving, pointed at me: "Tham Chi, you just wait. Nhiem Nhiem will not let you go." I put thirty yuan into the safe. Ms. Lam gasped: "When she was scolded, she didn't speak up, but the accounts were really accurate." "Because of poverty." She copied the camera onto a small USB and stuffed it in for me: "Take it. Don't say I won't help you." I took it, and the string that had been tight for so long in my heart finally loosened a little. On the way back to the dorm, my phone showed me a notification about a new post. Tong Nhiem posted a long article. She said Uncle Tham took care of her like a father, and she didn't want to destroy other people's families because of her. She said I had been spoiled since childhood and could not understand the suffering of poor students. She also posted a photo of a transfer amounting to six thousand two hundred yuan. Note content: Tuition fees for Nhiem Nhiem's next semester. Below are a series of words of mercy. Chu Duong called, his voice so loud that passersby had to turn their heads. "She took the exact amount of your tuition! Chi Tu, that's your tuition amount!" I stood under the streetlight, looking at that transfer photo. "Yes." "Don't just say yes, say something." "I'm thinking." I said, "How does she know my tuition next semester is six thousand two?" Chu Duong was silent. My father wouldn't go into that much detail with her. Unless someone has ever seen a loan application or document in my academic advising office. The next morning, Ms. Truong called me to the office, her face even more unsightly than yesterday. "Tham Chi, my support application documents were taken by someone." I asked: "Can you find out who it is?" "Yesterday there were quite a few people going in and out of the office." Ms. Truong rubbed her eyebrows, "I will report to the academy." There were two knocks outside the door. Tong Nhiem walked in, carrying a bag of fruit in her hand. "Miss Truong, I'm here to submit a poverty certificate." Seeing me, she pretended to have just discovered: "Chi Chi, are you here too?" Ms. Truong received the documents: "Put them here." I looked at Tong Nhiem: "Do you know my tuition is six thousand two?" She was stunned: "Isn't the school's tuition fee public?" "I haven't said what major I'm majoring in." "I guess." She smiled wryly, "Everyone's tuition is almost the same." Ms. Truong opened the document and frowned: "Tong Nhiem, why is the family address on this certificate different from last semester?" Tong Nhiem immediately said: "My family has moved." "The village committee's seal has also changed?" "Our place has merged with the village." I saw Ms. Truong put the certificate in her file bag and did not ask anymore. Tong Nhiem walked to the door and suddenly turned around: "Chi Chi, uncle Tham asked me to tell you, he will be waiting for you at the school gate tonight. Don't hide." "He asked you to pass on the message?" "He was afraid you wouldn't answer the phone." Tong Nhiem lowered his voice, "He said if you continue to cause trouble, he will tell your mother's past story to his classmates." My hand pressed on the edge of the table. Ms. Truong raised her head: "What's going on?" Tong Nhiem covered her mouth: "Sorry, I shouldn't say." I looked at her: "Let's finish." "I really can't say." She stepped back, "Uncle Tham said it was a bad thing in your house." After the door closed, Chu Duong rushed in from the hallway. Just now she was standing outside. "I really want to rip her mouth out." Ms. Truong locked the office door and lowered her voice: "Tham Chi, about your mother's matter, do you need the academy to protect your privacy?" "No need." I said, “My mother never did anything bad.” “Then why does my father say that?” I put the notebook on the table: “Because he wanted to scare me.” At eight o'clock in the evening, I went to the south gate of the school. Tham

Kien Quoc stood under a streetlight, holding a cigarette in his hand. Tong Nhiem was also present. She changed into a white dress, looking like she was intentionally standing there so others could take pictures. The area near the south gate was filled with students. The discussion on the forum was so loud that many people pretended to pass by, but their steps were slow as if they were stuck in traffic. My father saw me, first put out his cigarette. "Sorry." I asked: "Sorry to whom?" "Nam Nhiem and Dad." "Based on what?" He tried to hold back his anger: "Based on the fact that I am your father." People around started recording videos. Tong Nhiem's eyes turned red: "Chi Chi, as long as you say sorry, I will pretend that nothing ever happened." I laughed: "What does it have to do with me whether you watch it or not?" Tham Kien Quoc raised his hand. Chu Duong rushed forward to block me: "Don't you dare try to hit him!" My father's hand stopped in mid-air, his face purple: "Tham Chi, do you just let outsiders oppose me like that?" "She's not an outsider." I said, "At least she didn't use my tuition money to buy flowers for someone else." There was a soft whisper in the crowd.