Sunshine on the River - Short story by Hoang Nhat Tuyen

Hearing the crackling sound of firewood burning, but yesterday he had to help Mr. Sau Dat, a neighbor, harvest acacia wood on Hon Nghe, his limbs were tired so Duc wanted to lie down longer. However, after a while, Lam came to the bed and called softly:

ILLUSTRATION: Van Nguyen

- Brother Hai, Brother Hai, wake up! - Brother Hai is Duc's name, but he is the first child, his parents have called him that since he was little so he is used to it. - Get up, have breakfast and go to the river!

- I'm awake! - Duc replied - But it's still early?

- Not early, wake up and have breakfast! I've steamed the sticky rice!

Duc took a deep breath, hunched over, sat up, walked to the large jar placed under the jackfruit tree at the end of the yard, and scooped water to wash his face. The two brothers each ate a small plate of sticky rice, then Duc went out to the porch, one hand holding a wooden splinter, the other holding a rolled-up net hanging on a bamboo pole. Seeing Lam holding the rattan basket, Duc said:

- Get another bag! It's early in the season, there should be lots of fish!

Hearing his brother say that, Lam quickly ran into the house to get another straw bag, folded it in half, and followed him out to the alley. The two brothers walked silently on the small path while the night was still dim. The scent of the magnolia tree in the house next door spread a gentle fragrance, but Lam did not pay much attention. Last night, when he heard his brother agree to let him go with them to catch sardines, he was very excited, he could not sleep well at night, waking up several times, just waiting for the morning to come. Now, his mind was only thinking about casting nets to catch sardines in the river.

The Cai River in the early morning was still covered with a light blue mist like smoke, vast and vague. The wind blew fiercely. On the other side of the bank, a few sparse rooster crows echoed clearly. The two brothers walked down the gentle slope and walked to the small boat tied to a wooden stake lying at the water's edge where a few clumps of creeping ferns grew out and curved like a giant sleeping turtle.

It was an aluminum boat that their parents had bought when they were very young. Although they lived on the shore, farming and gardening, the house was located along the river, so Lam's father liked to buy this boat to occasionally fish. Many times, Lam's father caught quite a lot, not only to feed the whole family but Lam's mother also brought it to the market on the other side of the river to sell, earning extra money to pay for this and that. Six years ago, while leisurely clearing the bushes by the fence, suddenly a mine left over from the war deep underground exploded, seriously injuring both Lam's father and mother, who later died in the hospital. Crying and suffering, but there was no other way, the two brothers could only rely on each other to survive. At that time, only seventeen years old, with only a little more than a year left to finish high school, Duc, Lam's older brother, had to drop out of school to take on all the responsibilities left by his parents. Although five years younger than him, Lam also wanted to stay home to help him, but his older brother firmly refused. The older brother took care of all the big and small things in the family. Duc's dream was to replace his parents in sending his younger sister to college, no matter how hard it was. At first, Lam was still playful and negligent, but gradually she realized the love her brother had for her, so she was determined to study. This year, the first semester of grade 12 had passed, and there were only a few months left until the graduation exam, and then the university entrance exam, so Lam studied day and night. But studying all the time was boring, so yesterday afternoon, at dusk, when her older brother said that the sardines had arrived and they would go fishing tomorrow, Lam asked to follow. As soon as he heard, his older brother scolded:

- Study hard, there are only a few months left until your graduation exam! Fishing is my job, you just stay home and study for me!

- Let me take a day off, tomorrow is Sunday! Let me go fishing with you for a day, just consider it a break!

Looking at his sister's cute, wrinkly face, Duc felt sorry for her. He thought it wouldn't be good to make her study all the time, so he replied:

- Okay, but just for one session!

Now the small boat that Lam’s parents had left behind had been pushed away from the shore. He sat at the bow, his brother at the back steering. The small splinter rubbed against the side of the boat, creating a steady rattling, rattling sound. When they reached a deep section of the river at the foot of a dense bamboo bank, Duc changed places, letting Lam hold the oars, keeping the boat moving slowly, while he began to cast the net. The small, clear fishing nets from Duc’s hands gradually sank to the bottom of the water, following an arc as the boat passed.

In this river section, in the past, when he was still alive, Lam's father often caught sardines. Although they were not big, the biggest one was only over three ounces, and had many bones, sardines on Cai River were famous delicacies because of their fragrant and oily meat. This was a fish with a very strange lifestyle. Since they were very young, both Duc and Lam had heard their father tell them that river sardines mainly lived in brackish water, where the river mouths flowed into the sea. Every year, from November to December of the lunar calendar, after the floods had passed, the mother sardines, their bellies full of eggs, crossed the river, swam upstream to spawn, and then the young sardines received many types of algae and tiny creatures in the alluvial water to grow up. After Tet, around the end of January to the beginning of March of the lunar calendar, the young sardines had grown up, so they went in groups, one by one, looking for food, following the current to find the place where their parents had left, and at this time, the sardine fishing season began...

After dropping the net, Duc let the small boat circle far away, occasionally raising the pole high, hitting it hard on the water surface, creating "bang", "bang" sounds like firecrackers exploding to alert the fish. After hitting for a while until his arms were tired, Duc immediately turned back and started pulling the net. But the boy's face was sad because the net was pulled up to the end but was still empty, with only a single finger-sized anchovy stuck, wriggling and struggling when brought up from the water.

- How strange, why aren't there any sardines? - Duc muttered as he took the anchovy out of the net and put it in the boat.

It was already bright. Lam's face was also sad, but she silently watched the winding river. After a while, she spoke:

- Or the sardines haven't arrived yet, brother?

- I don't know! Let's see!

Duc answered and looked around. Not far away, a kingfisher had gone to feed early, perched on a bamboo grove, flew out, dipped its head into the river, then soared up again, flapping its wings back to the shore. Duc watched the bird's flight and his experience told him that the part of the river where the kingfisher had just dove into would certainly have a lot of sardines. Carefully placing the net down so it wouldn't get tangled, Duc quickly rowed the boat forward, then handed the splinter to his younger brother, and began to cast his net in a new area, at the end of a gently flowing stream.

The thin mist on the river surface gradually cleared away, revealing the clear blue water. Duc dropped the net and looked down to see if there were any schools of fish swimming below, but he was a bit disappointed because apart from a few bubbles rising from Lam's oars pushing into the river, he didn't discover anything else. Maybe the sardines hadn't returned yet! Duc thought. But surprisingly, after turning the boat around, returning to hold one end of the net and pulling it up, he was extremely surprised. There were not just one or two, but many white sardines, some tilted, some facing up, sticking their heads into the net, sparkling.

- Oh my god, so many, it looks like we caught a fish, Big Brother! - Lam shouted and to prevent the boat from rocking, she bent down and crawled closer to her brother to watch Duc remove each fish and put them in the basket.

- Looks like the whole herd is hit…

One batch, two batches… Then several batches after that, each one was full of fish. Duc and Lam had never seen so many sardines, even when they followed their father to fish. The basket gradually filled up and Lam had to put some of the fish into a straw bag.

The two brothers continued to row back and forth with the small boat until the sun rose, beginning to spread its rays across the river. At this point, knowing that no matter how hard they tried, they would not be able to catch any more, Duc decided to stop.

- Okay, no more fighting, brother? - Lam asked when she saw her brother roll up the net and drop it into the bottom of the boat.

- Okay, okay! Let's fight again tomorrow! When the sun comes up, they will hide in the caves on the shore, we won't be able to catch them anymore!

- Ah, I remember, my father told me that once but I forgot! - Lam replied, then while cleaning the basket of fish, he asked again - With so much fish, should we sell it now, brother?

- Yes, bring it to the market to sell, just keep a little to eat!

Under Duc's oars, the boat turned towards the other side of the river, where Phu Thuan market was crowded with buyers and sellers. Midstream, Lam turned back and asked:

- Brother, later, after I finish selling the fish, I will buy you a shirt!

- Oh, no need! I still have enough shirt to wear! If I sell it, I'll save the money, because I have an exam coming up!

- We'll worry about the exam later! I see that your shirt is old, I have to buy a new one so that I can wear it wherever I go to look good in front of people!

Duc hesitated, and after a few seconds replied:

- Yeah, okay!

Seeing her brother agree, the little girl seemed happy:

- After I finish selling the fish, I will buy some ingredients to make sardine salad to offer to my parents this afternoon! My parents used to love this dish! Please wait for me at the dock!

- YES…

- I will buy grilled rice paper too!

- YES…

- Why don't you say anything and just say yes? - Lam turned around and asked again. Seeing her brother's eyes blinking as if he was about to cry, the little girl was surprised: - Oh, what's wrong, Big Brother? What's wrong?

- No… maybe it's because the sun is so bright! - Duc tried to smile, acting natural - Remember to buy Vietnamese coriander, without that the salad won't be delicious!

Yes, I know!

Duc turned away. Actually, he couldn't hide his emotions at what Lam had just said. He suddenly realized that his sister had started to grow up, and was already thinking about others. He remembered that just a few days after his parents passed away, the little girl was still very naive, always playing, skipping rope, jumping around, always wandering around, not knowing anything. Many times looking at her, Duc couldn't help but worry, wondering how the two of them would live from now on. But now... With the nets just pulled up, Duc knew that there were a lot of sardines coming back. Tomorrow he would go fishing again. His heart was filled with joy when he imagined that one day his little sister would go to university. When his parents passed away, he had to work hard alone, sometimes in the garden, sometimes in the fields to take care of daily life, he never dared to think about anything far away. Finally, his little sister had grown up, only a few more months until she finished school and took exams.

Lam did not know her brother's mood. She thought that because her brother was not wearing a hat, the bright sunlight was making her eyes uncomfortable. Lam was happy because the two brothers had caught a lot of sardines. Besides, she had always loved seeing the morning sunlight flooding the river like this. Before her eyes, the sunlight was still gentle, but the whole wide river was sparkling, sparkling everywhere, as if the small, undulating waves were pieces of glass absorbing the sunlight. The mulberry and corn fields on the banks now all appeared smooth and radiant in the clear morning sunlight.

At the wharf leading to the market, many people waiting for the ferry were gathered, laughing and talking loudly. It seemed that among the crowd there were also a few women who were selling fish waiting. When the small boat of Duc was about to come near, one of them came to the water's edge, waved her conical hat, and asked loudly:

- Hey, did you catch any sardines? Let me know! I asked first!

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/nang-tren-song-truyen-ngan-cua-hoang-nhat-tuyen-185250315180637711.htm