During a Vietnamese history class, the female teacher asked a question:

-Hey, kids, do you know who the 18th Hung Vuong is?

-Yes, yes, that is the last Hung Vuong of the Hung Vuong dynasty – the whole class answered in unison.

-Oh, you guys are so good. Right. King Hung Vuong 18th was the last king of the Hung Vuong dynasties. So now I ask you, who gave birth to the 18th King Hung Vuong?

The whole class was silent, no one said anything. It’s so difficult, there are no textbooks that teach about this issue. There was the sound of someone rustling through a book, but it was hopeless because there was no such information in the textbook.

Then suddenly Ty raised his hand:

-Yes, ma’am, I know.

The whole class looked at Ty, surprised, and didn’t know how Ty would answer. The whole class wondered: “No one teaches about this issue, but Ty knows, right? Strange. Let’s see how Ty responds.”

-Yes, tell me – Teacher said to Ty.

-Yes, ma’am, in my opinion, it is the 17th Hung King. Mr. 17 gave birth to Mr. 18.

-Oh, the whole class is as noisy as a market. Perhaps that’s right, of course the 17th king must give birth to the 18th king, that’s so true. The whole class loudly said so.

-That’s right, the teacher said. Ty is very talented and very smart. It’s true that the 17th king gave birth to the 18th king. That’s right. So now let me ask again, another question. Who gave birth to the 17th King Hung Vuong?

The whole class was as noisy as a market, a whole bunch of hands were raised, the whole class scrambled to say:

-Yes, I know. Yes, I know,,,.

-Okay, everyone be quiet. Okay, then Teo, tell me.

-Yes, that’s easy, that’s King Hung Vuong the 16^th born to 17th.

The whole class was as noisy as a market again, criticizing Teo for stealing Ty’s idea.

The teacher continued:

-So now let me ask again,,,.

But before the teacher could ask, the whole class scrambled to say in front of the teacher:

-Who gave birth to the 16th King Hung Vuong?

-No, no, I won’t ask like that anymore, the teacher said. If I ask like that, you can guess. Now let me ask another question: Who gave birth to the first Hung Vuong King?

Oh my god, it’s so hard. The whole class sat in silence again, so much quiet so that you could hear the sound of flies flying in the classroom.

It’s so difficult, the first king is already there, so there won’t be any king before the first king.

Teo lowered his head to the table, but secretly glanced over at Ty and saw Ty looking at the ceiling, seems very lost in thought.

-Come on, kids, answer, the teacher said. Come on, Ty, Teo, Flower, Bud, Voi, Sung, Sinh, Copper, Aluminum, Bowl, Plate, Casserole, Pan, Bow, Kinh,,,let’s talk.

But the whole class remained silent.

Suddenly, Ty raised his hand and said:

-Miss, I know.

The whole class looked at Ty, half believing, half doubting, wondering if Ty could answer.

-Okay, Ty, tell me.

-Yes, ma’am, that is King Hung Vuong number zero 0.

The whole class loudly admired Ty.

-That’s right, Ty is so good.///