"That job is for the unemployed."
A small, ankle-high grassy road on Vinh Phuc Street, Quang Tho Ward, Sam Son City (Thanh Hoa) leads me to a house thatched with palm leaves on the edge of a field. This is a peaceful scene that appears in the "million-view clips" of 25-year-old Le Xuan Chien.
Chien quit his job repairing electronics and refrigeration in Hanoi, which earned him nearly 20 million VND/month, and returned to his hometown, surprising everyone. When his parents asked, Chien said that working was too time-consuming, he had to be away from home, he could not control his finances because of the high cost of living, and he felt that he did not belong to the job or industry he was working in.
Chien and his grandmother in their simple old house (Photo: Hanh Linh).
Young man leaves city to return to countryside to make videos with millions of views (Video: Hanh Linh).
The guy talked about the idea of growing vegetables and raising chickens in his grandmother's house and building a Vlog channel called "Choa's Countryside Kitchen" about dishes and games in the countryside so that people can "find tickets" back to their childhood and make money from it.
"When my parents heard the idea, they said I was crazy. My father thought it was only for "jobless" people. What the hell was making clips for? My father questioned and firmly opposed it," Chien confided.
Determined to pursue his idea, Chien went to his grandmother's house, a place with many memories associated with his childhood. The young man used all his money to renovate it, spent time researching and collecting old items... In February, the youtube channel, social network tiktok, facebook "Bép quê choa" was officially launched.
The rustic, rural scene evokes childhood memories of many generations (Photo: Hanh Linh).
Talking about the channel name, Chien said he wanted to emphasize the word "choa" in the word "que choa" (my hometown, I - PV) used by many people in the Central region, especially Thanh Hoa, when they are away from home. Every time "que choa" is mentioned, many people know that it is a Thanh Hoa person.
Chien shared that the simple and familiar "Country Kitchen" space includes a small tiled house, a kitchen roofed with palm leaves, a large yard, a well, a vegetable garden, a fish pond, a bamboo fence...
Besides sharing typical dishes of his hometown in the old village space, Chien skillfully and flexibly uses local language such as "mo - te - rang - rua" to create a sense of closeness and nostalgia for those who are far from home when hearing it.
"Reluctant actor"
7 months after creating the Vlog channel "Hometown Kitchen", Chien became known to many people. Chien's personal social media channels have hundreds of thousands of followers. In particular, the young man owns many "million view" clips when "acting" with his grandmother.
Mrs. Le Thi Thanh feels happier when making traditional dishes with her grandchildren, recalling a time of poverty (Photo: Hanh Linh).
In the first clips, Chien himself received a lot of criticism from the online community. Many comments said that he was still young and didn't know anything about the past, or that he dared to "give life lessons" to someone with a "baby face",... which made the young man think a lot. Chien "found his own way", inviting his grandmother as a "supporting actress".
Ms. Le Thi Thanh, 84 years old, Chien’s grandmother, said that her house was built a long time ago and is where she and her husband live. The grandchildren were taken care of by their grandparents and grew up under this poor thatched roof.
"The day Chien massaged my shoulder and whispered, she asked me to record a video with him. I told him, 'Stop it, the whole area calls you stupid, silly Chien...' But he kept begging, using 'tricks' to entice me with dishes he made himself, and I didn't even know when I joined in," said Mrs. Thanh.
Chien is having a happy life with childhood memories (Photo: Hanh Linh).
"Supporting" her grandchildren with her own knowledge about food, games, customs, etc., Mrs. Thanh feels happier and healthier when returning to the past, her childhood.
Although there were many difficulties during the process, the "million view" guy never felt "poor" in ideas because of the help of his grandmother.
"Countryside Kitchen" of a young man from Thanh Hoa carries the message "a place that brings you back to your childhood". Therefore, on holidays and weekends, many tourists from other provinces and cities come to Thanh Hoa to visit the house of the grandmother and her grandchild to experience the rustic and simple rural cultural space.
Fighting in a simple kitchen, recalling childhood memories of the 7X, 8X generation (Photo: Hanh Linh).
To earn more income, Chien also sells hometown specialties such as shrimp paste, squid fish sauce, mackerel, tuna... Income from selling products via social networks helps Chien realize his dream of "reviving childhood memories", being financially and time-independent and living close to home.
"The happiest thing is that my parents have changed and supported my decision. In addition, many viewers left positive comments and feelings: "Every time I watch the video, I remember my childhood" or "It's rare to find a channel that retains such an old-fashioned feel," Chien shared.
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