Can't remember the taste of moon cake
As the Mid-Autumn Festival approaches, the boarding house for poor workers in Quarter 14, An Phu Ward (Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City) is no different from any other day. Occasionally, some children in the neighborhood run out to play with each other, but hardly any of them pay attention to the upcoming Tet holiday.
The workers' dormitory becomes quiet when it gets dark (Photo: Nguyen Vy).
At 6 p.m., when it was getting dark, the boarding house with about 20 rooms became even quieter. In a shabby boarding house of less than 15 square meters, Ms. Tran Thi Thuy Linh (43 years old, from Ben Tre) was "disheveled" and taking care of her 3-year-old son who had just learned to babble a few words.
Suddenly, it started to rain. Linh breathed a sigh of relief because the room was less hot.
When talking about the Mid-Autumn Festival, she felt shy, smiled and fell silent. The woman confided that 18 years ago, the day she went to Ho Chi Minh City to start a business was also the time when life made her unable to think about these days.
"It's embarrassing to say, but the last time I ate mooncakes was 10 years ago. At that time, I was still working for a garment company. Every Mid-Autumn Festival, the company gave me a box of mooncakes. But since I changed jobs, I have never dared to spend money to buy mooncakes," said Linh.
Only being able to buy her child a small moon cake, Ms. Linh felt guilty and extremely hurt (Photo: Nguyen Vy).
She and her husband have two children, but their parents never take them out to play during the Mid-Autumn Festival. Linh confided that life is too hard, and the days after work are when they are exhausted and have no energy to care for their children. The boarding house is far from the city center, so the children only play around and rarely go far from this place.
To keep her child from feeling sorry for herself, she had to buy him a small moon cake. She only had a little money left for this month's expenses, so Linh kept wondering: "I don't know whether I should buy a lantern for my child or not."
Dreaming of a warm mid-autumn festival
Linh and her husband used to be construction painters. Since the birth of their youngest child, she had to stay home to give birth. Therefore, all the financial burden fell on her husband, Nguyen Van A (40 years old, from Dong Thap). The couple's income from 15 million VND/month has now been reduced to half.
"Not being able to afford it, I had to send my daughter back to her hometown to study at university, and ask my younger brother to help her. Now I just hope she will soon have a stable job and a more fulfilling life," Linh said sadly.
Her parents in the countryside were both old, and everyone in the family was struggling. Linh did not want to be a burden to her family, so she did not dare complain to anyone. She only intended to try hard for a few more years, save some money, and then return to her hometown.
Children spend all day hanging around the boarding house, rarely getting to go out to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival (Photo: Nguyen Vy).
His skin was dark from working outside all day, Mr. A wiped the sweat from his forehead and gently kissed his son on the cheek. His hands were stained with white paint, he tried not to touch his son for fear of dirtying his shirt.
"Although we are poor, we try to give our children everything we have. This year, my husband and I bought moon cakes, and next year we will try to buy a lantern. Our children are the motivation for us to try," Mr. A confided.
Just a few steps away from Ms. Linh and Mr. A's boarding house, the thatched-roof boarding house also began to be filled with the sounds of children. Claiming to be the "least poor" household in the boarding house, Ms. Tho (40 years old, from An Giang) boasted that she had just bought moon cakes and lanterns for her young son.
Ms. Tho shared that she makes a living by selling fruit to residents in the boarding house. Her husband works as a waiter at a pub to earn money to raise their children. Although life is not very comfortable, Ms. Tho still feels lucky because there are many people in the boarding house who are much more difficult than her.
Ms. Tho confided that she felt happy to have her family by her side when life was still difficult (Photo: Nguyen Vy).
Pointing to the dormitory, Ms. Tho said that this area is mostly inhabited by low-income workers. They have lived here for many years, everyone understands each other’s situation and considers each other as close relatives.
"Every year, on any holiday, the boarding house is still gloomy like that. Because of the hard life, not having many conditions, we can hardly think of occasions to have fun. But the Mid-Autumn Festival is a festival of family reunion, even without lights, without cakes, we just need to see our husbands, wives, and children still by our side, and we feel very happy," Ms. Tho confided, somewhat sadly.
Source: https://dantri.com.vn/an-sinh/tam-su-buon-cua-nu-cong-nhan-10-nam-chua-nem-mui-banh-trung-thu-20240916165735139.htm
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