Short story: Live to love each other

( Quang Ngai Newspaper) - Putting the wages in his pocket, Trao intended to go home but his stomach was growling so he thought about buying something to eat to warm his stomach. Suddenly Trao saw an old woman sitting huddled in the corner of the market with a basket of something covered with a layer of cloth. Walking closer, Trao asked:

- What do you sell?

The old lady was delighted to see someone stop to buy something. Her hands were shaking as she opened the curtain and said:

- I sell bread, do you want to buy?

Trao wanted to ask if the cake was still crispy, but looking at the wilted cake in the old woman's hands and the expectant eyes, he couldn't bear to leave.

- I'll take 5, grandma. What time do you usually come back?

- Come back when it's over, uncle.

- Do you live nearby? Your children must be worried if you go out to sell at night. Let me take whatever you have left.

- I'm going back right over there. Just take enough to eat. It's a waste to take too much and throw it away. I'll be sitting here until morning. I won't be able to sleep anyway.

Following the direction the old lady pointed, Trao's eyes saw the foot of the bridge. The chewy bread stuck in his throat, Trao sat down on the sidewalk and looked at the splendid city with its twinkling lights. Carrying the bag of bread, Trao returned to his rented room. Several dogs jumped out from the alleys, barking loudly every time Trao passed by.

Trao has been a worker since he was eighteen. At first, he worked at a tea factory near his home. At that time, his adoptive mother was still alive, so Trao still had a home to return to. After his mother passed away, and his siblings were still fighting over land, he had no home as an adopted child. When he left his hometown to wander around the industrial park, Trao worked as a worker in one company after another. It wasn't like "standing on this mountain and looking at that mountain", but times were tough, orders were unstable, so businesses only hired seasonal workers. For the past few years, Trao has been working steadily for a company, with a salary that was enough to cover his living expenses. In fact, being single, without a family, without any burdens, was simple, but to support a family on his shoulders, a worker's salary was nothing.

The phrase “let’s break up” sounded familiar to Trao. For years now, he had not pursued any girl. It was not because he no longer believed in love, but because the older he got, the less joy he cherished. One day, when he was drunk, someone asked Trao if he was bored with this poor worker’s life. Trao shook his head and laughed. There is nothing easy in this life. The past few years have been difficult, inflation has reached every family’s dinner table, many people are in trouble. Having a job to make a living is already very lucky. We are poor in money, we cannot be poor in spirit. We cannot keep ourselves down forever. We have to fly! Even if we don’t have wings, we have to fly away from the oppression of money.

- That's a good thing. If it's not for money, why do you have to go to the wholesale market to unload goods after work?

- Well... so that in the future, someone who relies on me will have less trouble.

The friend patted Trao on the shoulder and greeted him, then quietly disappeared into the alley. Trao also hurried to the wholesale market to unload his goods on time. The aunts and uncles at the market loved Trao very much. Everyone teased him, "Are you going to be my son-in-law?" Trao smiled gently and said, "I'm just afraid that your daughters will think I'm poor." Someone clicked their tongue, "That guy, he's really poor, but whoever marries him will be happy. Many people who marry rich men live in tears." Those casual words made Dao's cheeks turn red. Trao didn't know that in this place of buying and selling, there were still people quietly waiting for him. When hiring Trao to carry some bags of goods, Dao also quietly and secretly watched that muscular back blend into the market. There was a handful of hot sticky rice that she wanted to give Trao but didn't dare. When paying him, she wanted to give him a few more coins but Trao wouldn't accept it. Sometimes, when she wanted to ask each other a question, the words just got stuck in her throat.

Trao suddenly remembered the old lady selling bread. He didn’t know why he hadn’t seen her selling bread for a few days. Following the old lady’s handprint, Trao went to the foot of the bridge. Trao asked about the old lady selling bread, and someone called out: “The old lady has been sick over there these past few days. This morning, I just bought some medicine for her.” The old lady was lying curled up on an old mat spread on the ground. Seeing someone approaching, the old lady opened her eyes, happily recognizing an acquaintance.

Trao wanted to ask her why she didn't want to go back to her hometown when she was so sick, but luckily the words didn't come out of her throat. If she had a hometown and children, she wouldn't have to lie curled up under the bridge. As he stuffed some money into her pocket and turned to leave, Trao suddenly felt his heart tighten. He wondered what would happen tonight with the strong wind and the old lady being so sick. Would he still have the chance to see her with the basket of bread sitting at the market gate? Or... The thought suddenly flared up like a fire, making Trao turn around and say: "Let me take you back to your rented room for a few days to take care of you so you can get better. It's windy here like this."

That night, Dao did not see the shadow of her lover at the market. A few days later, the market was buzzing about Trao bringing an old woman home to raise. Some people clicked their tongues: "Already poor, he still brought an old woman home, what girl would he marry?" But someone else said: "Poor but kind-hearted. He loves a stranger so much, let alone his wife and children."
Dao was impatient, so she closed her stall early to look for Trao. When Dao arrived, Trao had just entered the factory. A few people in the boarding house were curious and asked Dao if she was Trao's lover. She brushed away a few strands of hair that were tangled in her red, embarrassed face and could only smile. When the old lady saw someone coming, she sat up from the bed and asked, trembling, "Are you looking for Trao?" For some reason, Dao felt sympathy welling up in her heart. The boarding house was shabby and somewhat messy because it lacked a woman's hand. On the table, a bowl of porridge was still warm, probably cooked by Trao for the old lady before he went to work. Under the bed, a set of workers' clothes were thrown in the basin, not yet washed. Dao was about to complain a few words when she suddenly remembered that she was someone else's. After feeding the old lady a bowl of porridge, washing, and cleaning up, Dao left...

Trao asked the old lady if there was a new girl who came out of the salt jar that made the house so clean and tidy? Or was it because... he was sick but still tried to get up and do all that work? The old lady smiled and said: "There really is a girl. This girl is pretty and gentle." The girl only appeared when Trao went to work. The company had a big order these days so the workers had to work overtime all the time. Although working was tiring, Trao felt happy because when he finished work, someone was waiting for him at home. He had not had that feeling for many years. Seeing people with fathers and mothers eating meals together, laughing with each other morning and night made him crave it. There were times when he wished he had parents to take care of him when he was old. The old lady appeared, the food was simple but happy. So many times the old lady asked to pack up and live under the bridge, but Trao refused. It was just an extra bowl and chopsticks. Trao tried to work overtime, and when he had free time, he went to the market to unload goods, so he wouldn't be able to make a living. “Why don’t you stay here and be my mother?” Actually, that sentence wasn’t that hard to say. Having said it, Trao felt relieved. Only the old lady was sobbing and couldn’t say anything. She had lived most of her life, wandering and meeting so many people, hearing countless stories about the world. She only saw people rejecting their parents for money. No one would pick up a stranger to be their mother. Trao smiled and said: “Of course there are. There are so many good things in the world, it’s just that you haven’t heard them yet.”

Everyone gathered together to add a cloth cabinet and change Trao's bed to a larger one. Some gave her a bottle of essential oil, others some packs of medicine. Some bought her a pair of slippers and a new hat. Some saw Trao away from work and were afraid that she would eat carelessly, so they brought her a bowl of soup. Sometimes they invited her to eat with them, because more people meant more fun. Trao's bringing her home to raise her was like a cool rain that watered the souls that were withered from struggling to make a living and worrying about the things that were bothering them. They thought that life still had many good things, and that they could just live to love each other.

The old lady was bored at home so she asked to pickle vegetables and bring them to the market at the end of the alley to sell. The market mainly sells to workers so everything is cheap. While she was selling, she saw it was raining and felt sorry for the workers' children who had no one to collect their clothes, so she hurried home. The yard was full of fallen leaves, the workers were busy working overtime, luckily she was there to sweep it. The leftover soil was covered with weeds, so she dug up some vegetable beds.

Once, after coming home from work, he saw Dao sitting outside the door sewing clothes. Trao stood there sadly watching for a long time. The neighbors saw that scene, washing rice and humming: "Your shirt has a torn hem/ Your wife is not here yet, your old mother has not sewn it yet". Dao was embarrassed and pretended to scold Trao for not having a needle or thread at home. Just now, people had to go to the market to buy some, so they were out of breath. I wonder how he dressed, but every pair of worker's clothes had a hand's worth of loose threads? And why was his beard and hair so thick? He looked both old and ugly. Trao was so happy to hear the scolding. The old lady also said: "Only when you care, will people complain about hair and clothes". Sometimes, because he craved attention, Trao let himself be a little more sloppy. In the morning, when he went to work, he intentionally left the bedding in disarray, each pair of slippers in a different place in front of the house. When he returned in the afternoon, he saw everything was neat and tidy. Looking at Dao's figure picking vegetables outside the door, Trao told his old mother:

- With Tam so clever, we have to hold on tight. If we let her go, someone will take her away. Right, Mom?

The old lady smiled toothlessly when she saw the couple looking at each other lovingly and shyly. Trao did not expect happiness to come to him so sweetly. From a person with no hometown or relatives, he now has a family with an old mother and a hard-working woman. He does not despise the low salary of a worker. He does not despise the smell of sweat on the faded shoulders of the worker's shirt. He does not despise the poor boarding house with its honest, sincere workers. The boarding house is happy for Trao, they tell each other that happiness often comes to those who deserve it. Looking at Trao's mother and children gathering around dinner after a hard day, one can see that this splendid city is not "flowers for the rich, tears for the poor" as people say. Individual people will rely on each other to form a home...

VU THI HUYEN TRANG

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