The next morning, Bich Quyen was the first to come to class. Last night, she couldn't sleep, so she went to school early. When Mrs. Huong asked why she came to school so early, Bich Quyen simply said that she needed to buy some things, so she wanted to leave a little earlier. In fact, she didn't go shopping. School supplies and books are all enough. Bich Quyen left this early, simply because she wanted to enjoy the cold weather of winter. Early in the morning, the sun was still hiding behind the clouds. There was only fog in front of her, she couldn't see the way. The weather was always like that these days. It hasn't been like this in a long time, every time winter arrives, the weather is the same. Bich Quyen walked down an empty street, slowly walking step by step. Although her injury was no longer worth worrying about, if she walked a little faster, she would still feel a slight pain in her waist. She took a deep breath. The cold in the air poured into her lungs, making Quyen unable to help but pull up her scarf to cover her nose. It's really cold! On her way to school, not many people passed by. It was still early and people were still burying themselves in warm blankets, immersed in their dreams.
The school gate peeked out from behind the dense fog, making Bich Quyen squint to see clearly. She stepped closer, handing the student ID card to the security guard. This security guard is old, but his memory is still very clear. He looked at the student card that Bich Quyen gave him and then back at her. His voice was hoarse.
- Why did you miss school for a month? How's the wound? Is it better yet?
The story that Bich Quyen had a fractured vertebra and had to be hospitalized is something that the whole school knew. The day her mother went to school to give the hospital note along with the application for absence, the principal sent it down to the security room to inform Bich Quyen's condition.
- I'm fine. Thank you for your concern.
Bich Quyen smiled lightly. She took her student card back from the old guard and entered the schoolyard. The fog had dissipated, and there were not many people on the field. When Bich Quyen opened the classroom door, there was still yesterday's lesson on the board. She took the rag, washed it, and brought it in to clean the board. The chalk dust on the blackboard, following the mop, fell like snow. Bich Quyen looked back at her classroom once, then looked at the class diagram placed on the teacher's desk. Bich Quyen thought Mrs. Tuyet had changed seats for students. She picked up the diagram and rolled her eyes. She could no longer sit with Manh Tuan and moved to the corner of the class and sat there alone. Right now, she didn't want to sit next to anyone in this class. Putting her bag on the seat, Quyen looked up at the clock. It was only six forty-five in the morning, and there were forty-five minutes to go before school started. She opened her bag, took her wallet, and slowly walked down the stairs, towards the canteen.
It looked like Quyen was the first guest at the school canteen. Inside, apart from her, only the shopkeeper was sitting inside. Hearing the door open, the salesman stood up. Bich Quyen politely bowed instead of a greeting.
- Cold tea, like always, right?
The shopkeeper saw her, put his hand on the wooden counter in front of her, and smiled. In fact, Bich Quyen was a regular guest of the canteen, and every time she came here, she called the same thing "cold tea." Sometimes, it would also change a bit. Quyen would change from cold tea to cold peach tea. Sometimes, the shopkeeper at this canteen didn't understand. It was so cold to drink cold tea. Wasn't this girl afraid of getting sick?
- Give me a cup of warm peach tea today, please.
Bich Quyen stuffed her hands into her pockets, the corners of her lips forming a smile. The salesman's eyes were very surprised. It was likely that the salesman did not expect that one day she would order warm tea. In fact, Bich Quyen still preferred to drink cold tea, just because she had just been discharged from the hospital and was unable to let her body get cold.
- Do you want anything else?
- It's all. I just bought peach tea. Please put it in this thermos.
She placed the thermos on the wooden counter along with a bill. The salesman took the thermos, put the peach tea in it, and handed it back to her. Bich Quyen took the thermos bottle in her hand, bowed a little, and left. When she came out of the canteen, it was already sunny outside.
When she entered the classroom, there were already more people than before. Everyone looked at Quyen like she was a stranger. Bich Quyen did not pay much attention to such things. She pulled up her scarf, walked to her desk in the corner of the classroom, and sat down. There were whispers in her ears, but she tried not to pay attention to them. Because if she paid attention, Bich Quyen knew she would hear bad things.
Drinking a sip of peach tea, the warm sweet water flowing into her stomach made Quyen feel much more comfortable. She set her thermos aside and opened her schoolbag to get her books. She wanted to read the article first. Opening the bag, Quyen realized that there was no pen box inside. She frowned. Obviously, this morning, before leaving the house, she had thoroughly checked to make sure she had brought all the necessary things to go to school. But what if she didn't have a suction box? No! Definitely not a shortage. She looked at a series of people standing and sitting in the classroom. They've started that damn fun again. Quyen lowered her head, not saying a word.
"Oh, Quyen."
A sound rang out, attracting her attention. As Huong Linh, her friend, carrying a bag full of notebooks and notebooks, walked up to where Quyen was sitting.
"Help... help me."
Huong Linh tilted her head slightly. It seemed that the other pile of notebooks was too heavy, making it impossible for her to hold it alone. Bich Quyen quickly stood up and helped half of the notebook be put on the table. Huong Linh stood beside her, her head resting on a stack of books, lamenting her back aching.
"Is this a month's notebooks?"
Quyen counted the piles of notebooks, ten to fifteen should be neatly arranged on her desk. A month without going to school, she didn't think there were so many assignments. Bich Quyen smiled bitterly. It seemed that she had to stay up late for a few days. Even if she didn't have to copy it by hand, it was still a process to read the knowledge again.
- Hey, let me tell you something.
Sitting next to Quyen, Huong Linh leaned close to her head, whispering. Bich Quyen looked at this friend of hers, wondering when did Linh become such a talkative person? We haven't seen each other for a month, and it's true that a lot has changed.
- That school's English competition, Hong, took the exam on your behalf. Do you know this?
Quyen nodded. Hoang Minh Hong took the exam on her behalf, Tuan said, since she was still in the hospital. Actually, she didn't care much about what rank Minh Hong would get. After all, Hong is also a person with good academic skills in English. That was what she thought.
- Hong did not get the required score. The required score was ten points, but Hong only got eight points. When Miss Minh found out about it, she was very angry.
Ms. Minh is an English teacher in Quyen's class and is a good teacher. She is really passionate about teaching and also very passionate about the students she trusts, so she is often short-tempered and angry with students. If Minh Hong took the exam, didn't have enough points, and didn't even pass the test, surely Miss Minh would be very angry. Bich Quyen sighed. English class was coming soon. With Miss Minh's temperament, Quyen guessed Miss Minh would mock this in front of everyone.
- You know, when Miss Minh went to class, she talked about Hong not studying carefully, then compared Hong a lot. At least Ms. Minh said, "Let me remember... if Quyen took the exam, at least she had to get the required score".
After listening to Bich Quyen, she just lowered her head and did not speak anymore. Just now, when she entered the class, Minh Hong looked at Quyen with unfriendly eyes. She couldn't think of a reason why Hong looked at her like that, but now Quyen knew. Turned out, it was all from this English contest. However, it was not because of Quyen that Hong did not get the required score on the exam. If she didn't do well in the exam, if she didn't get the expected score, it was all Minh Hong's own fault. No matter how angry Hong was, Bich Quyen did not feel that she needed to be responsible for Minh Hong in this case.