- Do you know what Cinderella’s favorite subject was?
- Literature?
- Wrong guess, sweetie. It was History! Back in 8th grade, Cinderella was “specially selected” to join the elite 9th-grade team for the history competition. Every time she won a prize, the school rewarded her with a brand-new bicycle — not just any bike, but the kind that screams “top-tier achiever”! Her name was plastered on the school bulletin board, and the principal announced her victories like she’d just been crowned Miss Universe. The school was proud. Her classmates? Starstruck.
- Whoa! Like the lead girl in a high school movie!
- Not “like.” Better.
- So did Cinderella have a bunch of toys when she was little?
- Not even a scrap of Barbie’s dress in sight. No dolls, no nail polish, no sparkly cat stickers. Nada.
- Then what did she play with?
- She played “vintage outdoor street-style” toys — like guard-the-dog, hopscotch drawn with charcoal from the kitchen. It was so much fun they laughed till the neighbor grandma had to storm out with a stick yelling, “Can y’all let an old lady nap in peace?!”
- Hehe! What else did she play?
- Marbles, Vietnamese mancala, jump rope, blindfold goat tag, tug of war — the full “super combo pack” of fun, no Wi-Fi required. Sometimes she’d fly kites up on the hilltops, sitting on a rock, looking down at the village like a mountain god surveying her kingdom. She and her gang would challenge each other: “Bet you can’t find your house from up here!” And when they did, they’d yell: “There it is! Your dad looks like an ant watering the plants!”
- I love looking down from up high too!
- You know that feeling of being on top of the world? Cinderella loved climbing so much that her knees ended up shaped like Grandpa’s old tobacco pipe!
- Did she have any makeup?
- Dream on, honey. Back then, no one in her whole extended family even knew what blush was. If someone saw a lipstick, they’d probably think it was a red candy stick. Women were too busy growing veggies and feeding chickens to worry about contouring their cheekbones.
- But later on…
- Oh, later, Cinderella made a comeback like a showbiz queen. She had the bougiest beauty products, celeb-level lipstick, custom-made dresses, a personal stylist, makeup artist, and hair designer all on speed dial. Her face? Glowed brighter than a 4K screen.
- Do you know what Cinderella feared the most when stepping outside?
- Uh… forgetting her bank card like you?
- Nope. Forgetting her lipstick. If that happened, it was full system shutdown — digging through her purse like she was defusing a bomb.
- Why’s it so serious?
- Because that lipstick was her confidence shield. No lipstick? Mask up like a ninja. With lipstick? Boom — dress on, heels strapped, transformation complete — a stunning swan strutting through the world, leaving broken hearts in every high-heeled step.
- Is a pair of high heels really that important, Mom?
- Oh, absolutely. The right heels can take a woman to magical places — even to the red carpet.
- Where’s the red carpet?
- It’s where only the boldest and brightest walk. And one day, you’ll be there too.
- I want to be beautiful like Cinderella.
- No doubt about it. To me, you’re already the most beautiful girl in the world. And Mommy’s gonna need a tennis racket to swat away those smooth-talking bad boys.
- Why do bad boys like pretty girls, Mom? What about the good ones?
- Bad boys give you headaches. Good boys give you rings — and zero drama.
- But Cinderella wasn’t just pretty, right? She was smart too?
- Oh, she was brains and beauty in one killer combo. People love saying, “She’s got nothing but looks.” But little do they know, Cinderella never dreamed of being a walking vase. she had PhD-level ambition— only a real prince could see it.
Excerpt from Mom – Min and Cinderella
HCMC, 2025
