Chapter 26 — Wind Village Robot Team

The seven-seater car had just turned the last corner in front of the school gate when Uyen Nhi pressed her face against the window and screamed. "There's someone waiting!"

In front of the gate of Long Phong Secondary School, a small crowd was waiting - not too crowded, only about thirty people, but for a small commune like Long Phong, that was quite an event. Teacher Nghia stood in the front row, holding a hand-written chalkboard with the words "WELCOME RETURN TO THE MOUNTAIN WIND TEAM" - the handwriting wasn't very pretty, it looked like it was written in a hurry, but it was the first time Khanh Dan saw him do something so symbolic.

As soon as the car stopped, the door had not yet opened completely, Ms. Xuyen ran over, pulled the car door open, hugged Gia Han as soon as she got out, not being able to say a word, just holding her daughter tightly in her arms as if afraid that if she let go, she would disappear.

"Mom, you're suffocating me." Gia Han smiled, but did not push her mother away, just hugged her back equally tightly.

Mr. Tu stood slightly back, not squeezing into the crowd, just waiting until Phong stepped down, opened the trunk of the car and took out the cardboard box containing the robot. When he saw his grandson dirty, tired but with bright eyes, he just nodded once, without saying anything, but Phong immediately understood the meaning of that nod more than any compliment.

"Where's the trophy? Let me see." Mr. Tu said, his voice trying to sound normal but unable to hide his impatience.

Phong pulled a small trophy out of his backpack and gave it to him. Mr. Tu took it, turned it around, his calloused fingers from a lifetime of repair work lightly touched the words engraved on the trophy, reading each word slowly because his eyes were no longer as sharp as before.

"Most Impressive Technical Innovation." He read aloud, then looked at his grandson, his voice low and full of emotion. "Your kit is worth it, isn't it?"

"A lot of credit, sir." Phong replied, his voice choked, hugging him right in the middle of the schoolyard in front of everyone, something he rarely did because he was naturally reserved like his grandfather.

Uncle Duoc stood nearby, patting Nam's shoulder firmly, without saying any specific compliments, just asking a question that was very typical of him. "Is there anything wrong with the vehicle, or is it just your robot that's broken?"

"The car is fine, it's just the robot." Nam smiled, even though his whole body was still tired after the long trip.

"Okay then." Uncle Duoc nodded, then suddenly pulled his son into a short, awkward but sincere hug, something that rarely happened between father and son who were used to communicating with curt sentences rather than intimate gestures.

Teacher Nghia approached Khanh Dan, still holding the welcome sign, put it down in a corner, then extended his hand to shake, a more formal gesture than his usual habit.

"Thank you." He said, his voice sincere. "Not just because of the award. But because you showed me that sometimes I need to believe more in what my students can do, instead of just fearing what they might lose."

"I think you trust me enough." Khanh Dan replied, shaking his hand. "You gave us a chance, even though you had every reason not to."

Ms. Hien, standing nearby, also walked over, holding a small piece of paper and giving it to Gia Han. "Miss Hien just received my test scores last week this morning. Still maintaining good form, no subjects dropped."

Gia Han held the piece of paper, looked at her mother standing next to her, they both smiled, without needing to say another word - that was the most concrete evidence of the promise Khanh Dan had made to Ms. Xuyen many months ago.

Among the crowd, Khanh Dan also recognized a few familiar faces that did not belong to the family of four students: the TV repairman at the end of the market, who once gave Gia Han two aluminum bars from old TV shells; the old grocery seller at the market, who gave directions to Mr. Tu's store on the first day she went looking to buy screws; and Mr. Sau, the owner of the largest windmill in the commune, was leaning against his familiar bicycle, his face beaming without concealment.

"Running well, that robot?" Mr. Sau asked as soon as he saw Khanh Dan, without waiting for anyone to introduce him.

"You ran very well, you even won a prize." Khanh Dan replied, smiling.

"You know that." Mr. Sau nodded proudly, as if he himself had a part in it — and in fact, the old sewing machine motor he once rummaged through in the warehouse and donated to the team also contributed a small part to the original transmission mechanism, before being replaced with a more improved version. "My windmill and your robot, in the end, are just the same thing: knowing how to take advantage of what you have, not waiting to have enough to start working."

The old grocer also chimed in, giving Uyen Nhi a bag of homemade peanut candy, thrusting it into her hand so she wouldn't refuse. "I heard that you were the one who came up with a certain color vision light. You're so good, better than some of the university students in the province."

Uyen Nhi blushed, bowed her head in thanks, but no longer avoided the stranger's eyes like before, just smiled and accepted the candy bag with a completely new naturalness.

Uyen Nhi's parents were also present, standing slightly behind the crowd - a quiet farming couple who had never been to school to ask about "some club" their daughter joined since the beginning of the school year, partly because they were busy with the season, partly because they believed that their obedient youngest daughter would not do anything wrong. When she saw her daughter getting out of the car with a small trophy in her hand, the mother burst into tears, hugging her child, while the father stood next to her, holding the trophy with trembling hands to look at, unable to say a word, just nodding repeatedly as if that was the only way he knew to express his overflowing pride.

"I did it, Mom." Uyen Nhi said, her voice choked but full of happiness.

"Yes, I saw it." Her mother replied, still not letting go, her voice shaking equally. "Next time there's an exam, remember to tell your mother to go see it, don't let her only know what people tell her."

The crowd gradually dispersed as the afternoon began to fall, each family took their children home to rest after a long day of waiting. Khanh Dan stood alone in the empty middle of the schoolyard, looking at the cardboard box containing the robot still sitting on the steps, no one had had time to bring it into the warehouse.

"Aren't you going home to rest?" Teacher Nghia asked when he saw her still standing there.

"I want to take the robot to the warehouse first." Khanh Dan replied, bending down to pick up the box. "He deserves a proper rest after what he just went through."

Mr. Nghia smiled, did not say anything more, just helped her carry the remaining belongings inside, and in the fading afternoon sunlight on the school grounds, the two of them quietly walked towards the small warehouse behind the boarding kitchen - where everything began, and where, although no one had said it out loud, they both understood that its story was far from over.

On Monday morning, during the flag-raising ceremony at the beginning of the week, Mr. Nghia personally held the microphone and walked up in front of hundreds of students throughout the school, something he rarely does outside of major holidays. He invited all four members of the Mountain Wind team to stand in front of the stage, holding a small trophy and holding it high for everyone to see.

"Last week, when these four students and Ms. Dan set off for the exam, many of us, including me, were skeptical about what a team from a deprived school like Long Phong could do among dozens of other strong teams." Teacher Nghia spoke, his voice echoing throughout the school yard through the old speaker. "But they didn't just bring home an award. They brought home proof that lack is not a reason not to try, and failure is not a reason to stop."

He looked down at the group of students listening attentively, many more curious faces than usual. "From next semester, the Robotics Club will officially become a regular extracurricular activity of the school, no longer an experiment. Any student in grades 6, 7, 8 who is interested can register with Ms. Dan from next week."

Murmurs arose throughout the schoolyard, many students' eyes looked towards the four members of the Mountain Wind team with an admiration completely different from the curious attitude mixed with a bit of pity many months ago. Nam stood on stage, puffing out his chest proudly, while Uyen Nhi just smiled slightly, her hand clasped tightly around Gia Han's hand standing next to her.

After the flag-raising ceremony, when the whole school dispersed to class, a group of 6th grade students timidly surrounded Uyen Nhi right in the school yard, asking all sorts of questions about how to register, about whether they needed to be good at Math to participate, and about whether girls could do mechanical work or could only draw. Uyen Nhi answered each question patiently, her tone so confident that even she was surprised at herself, and in that moment, standing in the middle of a group of juniors who were eagerly listening, she realized that she had truly stepped out of the shadow of the little girl who once cried and ran out of the warehouse because she couldn't say a word in front of strangers.