Cold winter days… the weather is unpredictable, some days it’s dark all day, but at noon it’s sunny again, my mother takes the opportunity to bring blankets and mats out to dry in the sun,
Her new blanket was glowing red…a gift from her grandmother.
On the summer side of the yard, the warm sunlight shines in,
My grandmother and mother were slowly mending and sewing together. The small basket had some floral fabric pieces. My mother was sewing the border of the fabric.
My grandmother said, this ring..
What did you say?
Export your fabric with mine, tomorrow go to the store, tell the seamstress to combine the two exports, cut and measure for a complete set of maternity clothes
So this year you are not planning to buy any clothes?
Well, your clothes are still good. Besides, you spend all day with a new mother. Why do you wear nice clothes? The ones you wear to conferences are still fine. You don’t wear them much.
Yesterday, my mother asked for two bags of diapers, still brand new.
The mute girl sitting on my grandmother’s lap, hearing that she raised her head. She kept shaking her head, as if she didn’t dare to accept…
My grandmother rubbed her head, picked up her hand, looked at it, pointed at it, opened it, closed it, and then said,
This girl will have a good future. Few children, but fortunately, her children will be successful and famous.
The mute girl kept smiling…, shaking her head.
Here it is..
This guy is very good at delivering babies in the village. He personally delivered a baby boy by himself.
really mom
yeah…good job…keep it up son
The image of mother and children , grandmother and grandchildren sitting on the steps, is deeply engraved in my memory.
I sat in the back…silent
She sat still and mute… looked over… with shy eyes..
her eyes seemed to have fire…shooting over
Grandma…Mr. Dam invites you and your son to a memorial service tomorrow afternoon.
Whose death anniversary?
his wife…his mother is a Catholic
Yes…Mr. Dam has always treated my family very well. He has a son, and a midwife was born there. Now the couple is doing business in the province. I hear that everywhere there are shops doing well.
Later, mom will measure out 5 kilos of sticky rice for you, and catch a chicken for the boy to bring over to the death anniversary.
come visit me sometime
he is alone, must be sad
Yes
tomorrow afternoon if you are not busy and no one is giving birth then you and Tu will go to the death anniversary
…I don’t have class this afternoon. The class schedule has been changed to the morning because the workers are repairing some classrooms with peeling floors.
Around 1pm, the sun was warm, the vast space of my village’s fields, the straight rows of plows shone with the silver color of the earth… over there were lush green potato fields, here were lush green vegetable beds.
I cycled out to the field, up to Mr. Dam’s house, the young rooster my grandmother hung from the wintering rack.
The bag of sticky rice in the back is fragrant…the golden sticky rice, round grains, fragrant and sticky, used to make sticky rice, wrap cakes in spring, or for death anniversaries.
Feeling elated because of my hometown rice seeds, I kept mumbling some poems..
Rice grains of our village. Songs and poems still resound on the first day of the year in the classroom.
rice grains of our village
has a silty taste
of Kinh Thay River
has a fragrant lotus scent
in a full lake
…..
There are storms in July
It rains in March
Drops of sweat
Water like someone boiled it
Cycling tirelessly, humming along to the song, my hometown and the rice grains of my village are like rhymes and music.
The gate behind his house appeared…the gate from that day, the rain on her pink body..
open again…the quiet afternoon
Mr. Dam’s house was bustling.
I carried the bag of chicken and rice. The sound of chicken clucking followed my footsteps.
Who is it…the girl’s voice echoed out,
I am the granddaughter of Jasmine, I came to contribute to the death anniversary.
She brought out water and said, thank you.
Calling in
Hey bro
Mr. Dam’s son stepped out, tall, handsome, and muscular.
He said he only accepts rice..who accepts things from the witch?
Hiiii…my wife said…stop it, brother, village love…you better watch out
Drink some water. See you tomorrow afternoon.
I asked…did the old woman just adopt someone? I heard from my teacher that’s why I said that.
Yes….
Why…so?
I told him…the story of the mute woman…the wife was silent, attentively and absent-mindedly…after a while she said, a person like Jasmine…is truly blessed.
Hey, let’s go to her house later… for the past few years, every January, I always send Ms. Hai to ask about her…
I’m so sorry…by the way wife
what
next year, let’s have another baby
I don’t dare…she laughed..
So wife, please get rid of all your maternity clothes.
what
Give her mute
How tall is the mute lady?
Probably about M.65 bro
good wife
his wife said,
Tú.. Give me your address later, this time I’ll pack it and send it by post, you can tell her to receive it, or she’ll feel sad, I have a lot of maternity clothes, everything, diapers, baby clothes, you can tell her not to buy anything else..
You and the mute girl are the same height, you can probably wear it.
I sat silently, feeling the simple countryside love.
Mr. Dam stepped out
The priest and his wife said…teacher, now my husband and I will go to the old house, light incense, visit Ba Hai…and Mrs. Jasmine…do we have to invite anyone else, teacher?
no..teacher invited enough
I followed him into the house.
On the altar, incense sticks are burning..
saw two women cleaning
I asked…who is that…he smiled…
One is a daughter-in-law, one is a girl, the daughter of your wife’s sister, and the other one is the daughter-in-law of your wife’s second sister. She will come over later to help you with the vegetables and cleaning.
I suddenly remembered what he said the other day…the daughters-in-law kept giving each other flirtatious glances…
I laughed,…he took my hand…and walked behind the coffee table..
The birdsong is bustling again…this afternoon the sun is warm and he is drying the birds again…the birds are chirping happily
grandfather…
what.. want to hear about Miss Hong?
No
women, women…hiiii
Just now when Mr. Dam was still in the house, I walked out to the corner of the garden to pee. Inside Mr. Dam’s brick wall was a wet floor. I heard two women rushing around.
the other sister said,
you better watch out
the other sister replied…what did she say…
I don’t argue far away..this time my brother comes back, I tell him
reply…you think you’re so innocent…surely I can’t tell uncle…
but…my house is weak…so I…
As for my house, your brother is probably healthy. For the past few years, he has not brought home any money from the gold mine. When he comes home, he is like a boiled vegetable. I am still bored with this life.
I don’t know why, but lately I feel so absent-minded…
me too…or maybe you just got one..
so stupid…let me try corn and potatoes later..
..tomorrow is my aunt’s death anniversary…who would
The two sisters laughed again, as if they were reconciling.
I guess, the story you talked about, the old rumor…
I was silent, thinking… about the story just now..
two women…daughter-in-law, granddaughter…
sitting..i almost fell asleep..
Mr. Dam asked…are you sleepy?
Yes sir.. yesterday I studied in the afternoon, these two days I studied in the morning.. woke up early sir
go to bed
His house has 2 bedrooms, one behind the altar…one in the back…I see Mr. Dam still sleeping there.
It’s cold..I cover myself with a blanket, warm and fuzzy..
The house gradually became quiet, only the sound of doves echoed in from somewhere. Next to the room I was sleeping in, on the other side was a small room that looked like a warehouse where the old man kept his Chinese medicine bags. The wooden wall had a few gaps, along the bed frame. I craned my neck up.. tried to look over.. It was dark over there.. I could only see a human shadow..
small voice echoed out…
you…you’ve been hiding from me and my sister lately…
no..you are not like that….
so why haven’t you texted for so long…or is there any…my sister and I…cut it
hiiiii..no way…
Where is that kid sitting here?
oh it’s sleepy…going to sleep..
I respect today’s death anniversary so I’ll skip it…hiiih..let’s see
oh..so big and you want to hide from me and my sister..
I want to too..but the kid is sleeping on the other side, he might wake up.
Hai’s wife is in the bathroom, come out now…
kissing, sucking lips…
I hear… angry inside…
echoes over…after the anniversary, come over…
uh…well..
what…i’m horny today…see…it seems like she pulled Mr. Dam’s hand in..
see…so wet for a while now…