In the cold of early December, ornamental plant traders still go searching all over the region for yellow apricot trees. This type of tree for Tet flowers has never lost its value, but the price really skyrocketed since the beginning of last year, when the chairman of a central province launched a movement that every office and every household should plant a yellow apricot tree in front of their gate. It was a good idea and it made the price of apricot trees double or triple, even the price of old apricot trees reached billions. Bricklayers, carpenters, motorbike taxi drivers, many of them suddenly quit their jobs to trade in apricot trees.
Illustration: THANH SONG
After negotiating the price, the team digs the tree down, shovels the soil, and makes the pot. If it is a loamy soil, it can be done in one session, if it is rocky, it can take a day at most. Occasionally, problems may arise. For example, when digging up the top layer of soil and seeing that the root system is too beautiful, the homeowner asks for more money. Sometimes, when encountering an old root stuck in a rotten, flooded area, the tree buyer frowns and begs the homeowner to give them a discount. And rarely, there will be unexpected events that make both parties hesitate, like the story of digging up Mr. Binh's apricot tree.
When the shovel was cut into the gourd, a "pop" sound was made.
- Damn, I got rocked again.
The digger cursed and then took another swing of his shovel. A black metal plate appeared in the ground.
- Copper? If you strike gold this time, you should quit your job as a miner.
The man dropped the shovel, crouched down in the hole he had dug, and brushed off the metal plate. He saw that it was not black but rather blue-green, dotted with rust.
- Oh my god.
He jumped out of the hole, crawled and ran into the porch, his face pale. Two members of the tree digging team rushed after him. Mr. Binh from inside the house heard the scream and also quickly came out.
- Ammo box, sir. I almost shriveled up. I was scared to death.
Quickly and gently, Mr. Binh went out into the yard, tilted his head to look into the hole. Startled, he regained his composure.
- What a machine gun. Why is there an ammunition box here?
Mr. Binh's apricot tree is a conservation tree, that is to say, an old tree, with a thick, healthy trunk and branches. The tree was planted since the liberation of the homeland, and no one knows who planted it, or if it grew from seeds. Half a century is as long as a human life, so is the age of an apricot tree. In the past, when things were difficult, he and his father often sawed off a few branches and brought them to the city to sell for money to buy things. The sawed places on the tree trunk have now healed, creating bumps that look very old.
The age of the apricot tree is also the time since peace was restored. Every time the old man met his fellow soldiers at home, he would point to the apricot tree and count the years of peace. The apricot tree actually had a happy memory. But who would have thought that under its root there was an object that reminded him of the painful period.
- If it could explode, it would have exploded. Keep digging.
The guy who bought the tree spoke as if giving orders. It was very difficult to hunt down an old apricot tree like this, which could be called an old apricot tree. And especially when he dug up the soil, he revealed a beautiful base, with large, sturdy roots that penetrated from the trunk to the ground. First base, second trunk, third branches, fourth varieties, bonsai enthusiasts all knew this saying, it was the standard to evaluate an apricot tree. The base that was raised up was definitely delicious, and that was right, because the branches could grow more or be bent, but the roots were a gift from God.
Yesterday, he offered the price for the fifth time before Mr. Binh nodded in agreement. Two hundred million was the final price, no one in this area had ever sold or bought an apricot tree for that price. The strong because of rice, bold because of money, he liked this saying, trading trees was not superstitious, but like gambling, the more afraid of losing, the more likely he was to lose. He also had time to take pictures and videos of the apricot tree to offer to several bonsai tycoons in Hue, one customer had offered half a billion. Oh my, how could one day earn three hundred million, this would be enough to have a warm and comfortable Tet holiday. Thinking about the profit, he disregarded everything.
- What the hell is a bullet? Let me go down and dig it up.
- Okay, okay. If something happens, you'll be dead and I'll be in trouble.
What does that mean? The three hundred million dollars that I was about to hold in my hand would be gone. And with the newly opened base, the price of the tree might go up even more.
- Mrs. Thuong, where are you Mrs. Thuong? Get me a cup and a plate.
Mr. Binh called his wife into the house. He must have been so panicked that he forgot that his wife had gone to the market this morning. He was so happy, she had the twenty million dong deposit money in the cupboard, and this morning she had taken out some bills to go to the market. It was rare for anyone to be happy when they got a lot of money.
Actually, Mr. Binh is not interested in selling trees, because they are full of memories. It was his wife, Mrs. Thuong, who urged him to sell them because the price of apricot blossoms is high, but last year it was not so high, this tree is worth fifty million VND. If he does not sell it, it will be cheap again this time. Just look at the price of the Sanh and Barringtonia trees a few years ago, but now no one wants them.
The apricot tree is located in the middle of the yard, blocking the view like a screen that everyone in the countryside has. The tree's canopy spreads out evenly in all four directions, the branches are interwoven. The apricot variety is also good, every year it blooms right on time for Tet even without any care. The tree is big with many buds, starting from mid-December it starts to bloom and blooms bright yellow until almost the end of January.
On Tet holiday, visitors all praised the land and the people for being so lucky that the apricot tree bloomed beautifully. He placed a bamboo and rattan table under the apricot tree as a place to drink tea. In the early mornings of damp spring dew, the apricot tree's fragrance was sweet and fragrant, a deep fragrance that only the green-bud yellow apricot tree of the Central region had. No wonder the kings in the past loved it so much and now that very land was full of enthusiasm for planting apricot trees in front of the gate.
Mr. Binh went into the house to get a set of dishes and took out some incense sticks. He opened his hands and placed two yin-yang coins on the plate.
- You want to buy and I also want to sell. But you are afraid of death and I am afraid of being implicated. Isn't that miserable? Let's ask for a fortune telling to see what the heavens and earth have in mind. Odd is favorable, even is fine. Please light an incense stick.
The couple had already planned out the two hundred million they spent on the apricot tree last night. They had to fix up the house to make it look nicer, the old tiled roof leaked and the storm blew it away without them knowing. They had to raise the ground and raise the yard a little higher to help with the annual floods. If they wanted to raise the yard, they would have to move the apricot tree, otherwise they would have to bury its branches, so selling it was reasonable. Another sum was to build a mausoleum for the old man on the village-issued grave land. The old man was now near death, his age was measured in days, his eyes and eyebrows were still clear, so they had to build a place for him to lie down so he could be happy. It was a win-win situation, selling the tree meant selling decades of memories, but in return they would have a decent place to live and they would also be able to fulfill their filial duties. "Then you probably won't be sad, right?" Mrs. Thuong asked the old man, receiving several nods.
Before Mr. Binh could ask for the glue, he saw Mrs. Thuong carrying a basket from the market. He put down his dishes, ran to grab her and pointed at her. The couple whispered a little, then Mr. Binh's eyes lit up, as if he was overcome with fear and panic.
- No more buying or selling. This incident was unexpected. Everyone needs money, but human life is more important. I'm sorry, I'll take your deposit back for now. When this matter is resolved, I'll call you to come sell the tree.
Mrs. Thuong took out the stack of money and gave it to the tree dealer to count. He didn't bother to check it, just stuffed it into his pocket.
- Like other people, you have to pay double the deposit. But anyway, we have to live with the past. Remember to call me when you finish dealing with the iron box. Don't sell it to anyone.
Unlike his previous recklessness, he now seemed to have lost his eagerness to get the apricot tree. A few hundred million was nothing compared to a life. He told the diggers to pack up their hoes, shovels, and ropes and go home. He left the hole as it was for the homeowner to deal with.
Mrs. Thuong took out a plastic bag.
- I have some pig intestines, I plan to make a dish of bait for you guys to eat. You guys take it home and take care of it yourself. But hey, don't tell anyone about the ammo box. Otherwise, people will gossip, and no one will dare to come here during Tet.
The group of tree traders left, Mr. Binh closed the gate and checked the lock to be sure.
- Have you ever heard anyone talking about something buried under the apricot tree?
- No way. I saw this apricot tree when I was a kid. No one has buried anything under it since then. - I mean before that, in our grandparents' time.
- Let me remember. Back then, I heard that my grandparents were well-off, with vast fields and gardens, but were classified as landlords. Later, their fields were confiscated and redistributed to the villagers, leaving only this piece of land to live on. My grandfather died during that struggle, and my grandmother lived for more than ten years, but she was not very clear-minded.
- Sometimes the grandparents put their wealth in there and hid it because they were afraid it would be discovered and confiscated. Later, the grandmother was too afraid of being implicated and did not dare tell anyone.
- What you said makes sense. But I doubt it, I doubt it from 1972.
In the fiery summer of 1972, the war was fierce, the whole village evacuated when the rice crop had just been sown. A few months later, when they returned, the fields were golden and had a good harvest. It was said that the gunpowder contained chemicals like fertilizers, so the rice grew well. Clumps of cogon grass grew all over the sandbanks, the cogon grass was taller than a person's head, and they could be picked up to weave and re-thatch their houses. Grass also grew freely, in the gardens of every house, grass grew thickly, and the houses were truly abandoned. Mr. Binh was only ten years old at that time, but the image of the day he returned to the village was deeply engraved in his memory, never fading away. When he opened the door to the house, he saw a hammock with camouflage fabric left by American soldiers. His father told the mother and children to sit still, so he went around the garden to make sure before starting to arrange and clean up. When clearing the grass in front of the yard, they saw a tiny apricot tree the size of a toothpick growing there, so everyone helped to bury it.
- It is very possible that the ammunition box was buried there by American soldiers.
- Why is the ammunition box buried so deep? It's not even a small meter deep.
- So what do you think?
- New gold and silver treasures are buried carefully.
It is not uncommon to find gold digging in the ground. In the past, there were people in the area who found an ancient earthenware jar containing gold and silver while digging the foundation for a house. In the South, there was a farmer who dug up an ammunition box filled with gold rings and necklaces. The newspapers reported that it was exactly the same seven-liter machine gun ammunition box as the iron box under the apricot tree. This type of box has a tight lid, in the past, everyone who had it used it to store valuables, but now many people use it as a box for storing car repair tools.
- If you have the guts, go out and pull it up and see. I'm scared.
- You are great. Go for it.
- Call Uncle An.
- Didn't you call yesterday? He said he had full rights to live with us. And he was right, because I live in the house and have to take care of my father. Selling the apricot tree is also to take care of the family, so I can't ask for a share. Oh, but I don't know about that box yet, so don't be so hasty.
- Sharing and taking. Greedy before anything.
Mrs. Thuong burst into tears.
- I'm poor, and I happen to have a poor friend. Now that I'm about to get some good fortune, you scold me for being greedy. There, you two can share it among yourselves. I don't even want the money for the apricot tree.
- I mean he works in the province, involved in the bomb and mine clearance project. He will ask someone to come back and check to see if there are bullets in the box. He has to do it cleverly so it won't be discovered.
That same afternoon, after the detection system found no danger, the ammunition box was taken out. He anxiously opened it to see. Inside was only a neatly folded dark blue tarpaulin. Spreading the tarpaulin on the floor, it turned out that it was not a tarpaulin but a rectangular bag the size of a table.
- We've seen this bag before. It's made entirely of nylon and won't deteriorate no matter how long it's left. Every American soldier in the past had one of these in their backpacks, just in case they died, they could use it to hold their body.
Hearing the bomb squad member speak, everyone shivered a little. But clearly that flat bag couldn't hold such a horrible thing. Unzipping the bag, they saw a bunch of parachute cord tied like a puppet.
- There is another piece of paper here. It's all in French. If you know, Uncle An, read it and see what it says.
Today, I just received the news that you were born. Half a world away, I am extremely excited and happy. I used a rope to weave a lovely doll for my daughter. But it is very fierce here, I am not sure if I can bring this doll back to America for you. So I put it in a nylon bag and buried it in the ground, marking this day, in this place I received the greatest joy of my life. Oh, but from now on, I have you, so I certainly will not need that bag anymore, I have to live and hope that this terrible war will soon end so I can come back to see you. In a moment, I will plant a tree that I just found on the ground, I heard the people here say it is an apricot tree. I will also give you a Vietnamese name, Mai, which means Tomorrow. When we come back here to find it, the apricot tree will probably be in bloom. I love you. Quang Tri, February 7, 1972, David Anderson.
***
The yellow apricot tree is still at Mr. Binh's house this year, blooming bright yellow, everyone who comes to celebrate Tet is amazed. Some people click their tongues and say, "Why don't you sell it if the price is good?" Others advise that if they leave it like that, it might go up to several hundred million more. The couple just laughs.
Hoang Cong Danh
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