Illustration: D.HT
Nhu, who was in the same neighborhood and was three years older, should have called me "brother", but since we were in the same class, I called him "thang". The kids didn't hold back and called him straight: "Stupid student". I was mischievous and said it was because he studied hard. Oh, don't think it's rude of me to call someone three years older "thang", I called him that to please him the most. The kids in the class and the neighborhood all called him "thang". He must have gotten used to hearing it so much that he didn't get angry. When he got too angry, he turned his face and challenged: "Do you think it's easy to be a tad?"
It's true that "hiding" like that is a bit difficult. Unfortunately, he's not that stubborn. He knows how to study, he's not that dumb. He's always left behind because he doesn't want to study, and he skips classes and is absent a lot. Really, I don't know how to describe his personality. He's half-good, half-bad, let's put it that way to make it easier to imagine. The type of stubborn person who says whatever he wants, does whatever he wants.
Not afraid of bothering or offending anyone, worse, not afraid of being punished. Like a bulldozer, bulldozing wherever it hits. With him, don't argue about right or wrong, it's useless. Why does he argue, no need to bother, just want to do things his way. More stubborn than a crab. Must play, not fight.
In general, his mouth often cursed and his hands and feet were very rough. If any child offended him, he would slap him right away. He always looked smug and fearless. After a while, he got used to it, he was indifferent, why bother... The whole neighborhood and the whole school secretly talked to each other like that. Almost everyone, young and old, who knew him, "respected him and kept their distance". Some were afraid, but they were afraid of trouble...
But strangely enough, Nhu was very "righteous" to me. That's probably why I was "du ngu" (Phu Yen dialect: children who are not afraid of adults), playing with him normally like the others, sometimes even daring to joke around, making the kids shiver in fear that I would be punched by him.
But I believe, no way. Maybe because of the favor, if you guys say bad things, I'm ready to defend him, with a very good attitude. But with him like this, who could bear to hate him? When we went herding cows together, Nhu always kept an eye on my cows. Not only that, he would bring me any snacks he found in the wild mountains.
Oh, and if anyone bullied me, he would elbow me in the face. At times like that, they would keep quiet but glare at me, as if jealous, the more gentle ones would use suspicious eyes, as if they didn't understand what was going on. Also, if there was a death anniversary or a happy occasion in the family, he would bring it up. It sounds like a made-up story, but I swear it's true.
Especially on the fifth of May, he was very excited. A big bag: sweet soup, sticky rice, cakes, and even boiled pig's eyes, tail, and tongue. His family was meticulous, offering both vegetarian and non-vegetarian offerings. He would give me that bag, and share it with whoever wanted. Oh, he would ask what your family was offering. They said only sweet soup. He would criticize right away. The fifth of May was Tet, and Tet could not be offered carelessly, or our ancestors would scold us to death. He meant that our family was sloppy, while his family was very neat.
Seeing him like that, I was also happy. I don't remember where I read it, but every time I got to eat his sweet soup on the fifth day of the fifth month, I would tell him a story. I told him about Qu Yuan, a talented and upright man who was initially loved by the king, but then listened to the evil minister and did not trust him. At the end of his life, he was exiled, so he was so angry that he tied a stone to his body and drowned himself in the Mi La River. He died on the fifth day of the fifth month, and every year on this day, people would hold a ceremony to pay their respects. Up to that point, I pretended to be noble:
- I have another story related to the Dragon Boat Festival, which is equally interesting.
- Go on! - he sounded excited.
- What reward?
- I'll give you another bag of cake this afternoon.
Just kidding, I'm fat enough from eating like this. I smiled and made the following expression:
- The story goes that once upon a time, two friends, Nguyen Trieu and Luu Than, went to Thien Thai mountain to pick medicinal leaves. There, they met two incredibly beautiful fairies. Fascinated by the scenery and their beauty, the two mortals married the two fairies. They were very happy, but the two fortunate men could not forget their village and home.
With a lingering nostalgia for their homeland, the two men said goodbye to their wives and returned home. One day in the fairyland was equivalent to one year on earth. When they returned, their contemporaries had passed away. Everything was no longer the same. Disappointed, the two men returned to the two fairies. But…
- But… can't find it?
- How do you know that?
- Just guessing. It's not easy to see fairies. If you don't know how to keep your happiness, you'll lose it!
- Yes, there is no more entrance to Thien Thai cave.
- So they went back to their hometown? - Nhu asked.
- No, the story is about two people who disappeared forever in the forest.
The Silver Bird raised its beak and said in a nonchalant voice:
- If the door is closed, you can go back. Why are you lost in the forest?
- You are superficial, you don't know the value of happiness, you don't know how to appreciate beauty like other people. I replied smoothly.
Nhu suddenly became pensive like an enlightened old man:
- They have "disappeared" with their love. Now, they are still happy in paradise - I think so.
When he said that, my expression changed immediately. His reasoning was so sharp, how could I hide it? When he finished speaking, he glanced over, and my cheeks seemed to have turned red.
During the years of herding cows together, almost every fifth day of the month, the same thing happened. Warm at home, bustling in the fields. And Nhu always asked everyone: what is the family offering, are you guys working far away coming home? I was very "domineering", saying that it was just sticky rice and sweet soup, there was nothing to come home for. He said: Tet - "eating" is not just to be full. See, it's so condensed, now I believe he is not hiding anything but also profound.
Then Nhu dropped out of school, left the cows and went to work. Coffee picking, construction work, porterage - he did everything. Well, later on his father gambled, and the family was very poor.
Then I also gave up my career as a cow herder. I went to the city to study and work. My love life was bumpy, so I was almost past my teenage years and still had no husband. Every time I visited my mother, I asked for news about Nhu. I heard that he had formed a gang, and had become a ghost. Even more terrifying, he was living with a girl, a big sister, not an easy one. Although I heard that, I was not as scared as my mother told me. Because I believed in the "sharp arguments" of the past that had a faint scent of conscience. But one day, the provincial TV station showed the police arresting a group of motorbike thieves, Nhu was the mastermind, and I collapsed. And from then on, from "that day", I believed that he had "disappeared", leaving no trace in me.
* * *
Under the weight of time, life has changed so much, although the heart still remembers. Specifically, when the cowherd girl became a spinster, and was sentenced to “pregnant without a husband”, the Duanwu Festival was no longer as bustling as before. But the custom of making sweet soup for worship still remained.
That day, I came home from work and heard a strange voice from outside the gate. I had just parked my bike in the yard when my mother shouted:
- Come here, there are guests waiting!
I walked in, calmly looking straight ahead, where the stranger was. Who was waiting and looking so strange? I was a little taken aback because he was no longer young, but his hair was cut short, revealing his scalp. In addition, his face had a dent in the middle of his forehead, and around the large scar there were still rough black lines. I felt a little sick when that person grinned:
- How are you today?
- Yes, fine!
- I'm coming home for the Dragon Boat Festival, luckily Aunt Hai still has some sweet soup!
Oh, I recognize him, it's Nhu. What's wrong with him? I slightly shrink back, embarrassed by his rough, gangster appearance.
- For nearly fifteen years, Thien Thai cave has not been closed yet - he said calmly.
I looked at him blankly, pretending not to understand. He explained:
- The village and friends are still there. Luckily I haven't passed away yet...
He said then looked at me from top to bottom, I blushed because my belly was in its fourth month.
He smiled when he saw that I was a bit confused. He said a few more words and then asked permission to go home to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival with his family.
I entered the room, it suddenly started to rain but my face was still hot. If he came to my house tomorrow, and no matter how many times I met him, I probably wouldn’t tell him about “that day”. The day I took a taxi to visit him but didn’t have the courage to step through the prison gate. I was afraid that it wasn’t Thien Thai but if I got in, I wouldn’t be able to get out…
Remembering the memories of that day, then remembering the story of the Duanwu Festival, I laughed to myself: Yes, let's just be a little vague so it becomes... "the story of Thien Thai".
NTBN
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