The next morning, Diep La headed to school with a heavy heart. Watching the students around her, each with a companion by their side, she felt utterly isolated amidst the bustling world.
She knew that truth was often cruel and that life was rarely as beautiful as a dream, yet she still had to comfort herself to keep moving forward. For only she, and she alone, could truly understand and walk with herself until the end of the road.
Khanh Dong School – Class 6A1. It was just another mundane day through Diep La's eyes. Her classmates frolicked and chatted, treating her like an invisible ghost. She set her backpack down and began sweeping her assigned portion of the classroom, leaving the rest for the other members of her group who had yet to arrive.
Once finished, she sat alone in the corner of the room, gazing out the second-story window. She watched the students playing in the backyard until they eventually scattered, leaving a sudden, suffocating silence in her small corner.
"Diep La, our group is on duty today. Why aren't you sweeping the floor?"
Looking up, she saw a beautiful girl with long, wavy hair and violet eyes. With her hands resting gently on her chest and a saintly expression on her face, she spoke to Diep La.
This was An Binh, the leader of Group One. It was their turn to clean, and with class about to start, the room wasn't finished. If they failed, the class would lose conduct points.
Diep La smiled cheerfully, feigning confusion as she asked:
"An Binh, what do you mean? Didn't I just finish sweeping a third of the room?"
An Binh felt a flicker of annoyance, but she maintained her pleasant facade:
"Ah! Is that so?! I'm so sorry, I didn't know! (She gently handed the broom to Diep La) But the others don't want to sweep. Since you've already started, could you please help me finish the rest of the room?"
Diep La remained silent for a moment, tempted to resist. But after a second thought, she flashed a friendly smile and agreed, deciding that yielding was the better path for now. She took the broom and began to work.
Seeing this, An Binh acted as though she felt guilty, but inwardly, she was sneering at Diep La's easy submissiveness.
Diep La, however, didn't care. The "submissiveness" An Binh perceived was, in reality, the distorted generosity of a demon toward its prey. The judgment of the gods was coming...
When class began, the teacher entered with the graded tests and asked the class monitor to distribute them. An Binh was delighted with her score of 8, though internally she seethed at not achieving a perfect mark. When the test reached Diep La, it was a 9—yet her face did not show joy; instead, it grew even more somber.
Seeing Diep La looking so dejected, An Binh felt a surge of loathing. She turned to her seatmate and spoke in a soft, delicate voice, careful to hide her spite:
"I tried my absolute best just to get an 8, yet I still can't match our Vice Monitor of Academics... (she glanced sideways at Diep La) Am I just that bad at studying?..."
An Binh's circle of friends, overhearing this, looked at Diep La with disdain. They chimed into the conversation, mocking Diep La for being arrogant and "riding on others' coattails." Faced with these slanders, Diep La remained unusually silent. She didn't care; her gaze remained distant, fixed on the sky through the window.
At 11:25 AM, September 21st, 20CH—the school bell rang. Diep La walked home alone. Passing through a crowded market, she spotted a middle-aged man. He held a cigarette, his hair was disheveled, and he was ravenously chewing on a plain loaf of bread while his eyes tracked the shoppers passing by.
Diep La went to a nearby grocery store and bought two pieces of candy—one yellow and one red—along with a carton of milk. As she stepped out after paying, she "accidentally" dropped the yellow candy, which was wrapped in gold foil. The round candy rolled across the ground with pinpoint precision, stopping right at the man's feet, catching his attention.
Diep La hurriedly ran over. Holding the red candy in her left hand, she picked up the yellow one with her right and let out a faint smile. For a split second, time seemed to stand still. Her eyes flashed red, and her voice, though low, was clear enough for the man to hear:
"If you see that woman has money, why not just take it?"
The man froze. The red eyes and the voice vanished instantly. Diep La stood up quickly, took the candy, and walked away like a mere passerby who had dropped something. Remembering the gold candy and those fleeting words, the man wondered if he was hallucinating.
He looked toward a wealthy woman wearing a red dress, draped in gold jewelry and carrying a red bag. Those words continued to echo in his ears. He gritted his teeth, stood up, and moved toward her.
Meanwhile, walking past a park, Diep La stopped at a roadside trash can. She stood there coldly and dropped both candies into the bin. They fell slowly, hitting the bottom with a faint "clink-clank." A cruel smile spread across her face as her eyes glowed red once more:
"Police... prepare to receive a special gift from the gods."