Short story by Do Cong Tiem from Vietnam

 

His biography:

Full name: Do Cong Tiem

Born in 1955

Published works:

A neighbor friend; Short story collections. Writers' Association Publishing House in 2005.

A sparse night; Collection of short stories - Army Publishing House in 2010.

Neighbor’s Lights - Army Publishing House in 2019.

Literature prize:

C Prize for “Neighbor’s Lights”, Collection of short stories in 2019

First Prize in Memoir for “The Land of Minh Tan 2018”.

His short story

Students’ looks

I was born in a small village in the Northern Delta. My village was poor. Poverty was almost a tradition of farmers from the first time breaking land to establish the village. Experienced ups and downs, the people were still in the dark of hardship all year round.

I was lucky to be born when the North was just liberated. I was allowed to go to school. I graduated from high school when the anti-American resistance war was in the end. Together with the village boys, I joined the army to go to the South to fight the enemy. The war ended, I returned safely. I dreamed of sitting in the lecture hall of a university in Hanoi. But the dream did not come true, I entered a pedagogical school of the province.

In pedagogical school, I met Mi, the girl with a round face, long black eyes. Her figure was slim and strong. Mi had a white skin with pretty fingers that many young girls in the town must envy.

I studied Literature, and Mi studied Mathematics.

I and Mi became close to each other because some reasons. We were from the same community. I lived in Mai village, and Mi in Dong village. The two villages were separated by a Doc site. When the rainy season comes, Doc site became a bag of water from the high fields in the village pouring down. Doc was flooded with white water, like a vast lake.

On holidays, Mi and I often went home together. Sometimes, Sunday I wanted to stay but Mi was unhappy, I had to go back with her. I drove Mi by a nosy bicycle. Mi sat behind: "Why are the clouds so white today!". Again: "The sky is so high and blue!". "YES". "There's a flock of birds flying over you!" "Really!". I humbly replied. Due to of her, I had planned this Sunday to visit a friend in the same old unit in the next district, but I had to postpone it to comply with Mi's wishes.

I was really annoyed and angry, but I never dared to resist Mi's will. From the bottom of my heart, I always wished that being asked for help from Mi. When Mi was not around, I felt missed, an emptiness filled in me.But when I was near Mi, I always created a difference. I was indifferent and cold. As if I wanted to show Mi and everyone that I was just a "communal countryman". Or Mi was still just a little girl, still in need of help. But all my cover-ups, just created a silly awkwardness in front of everyone.

On the contrary, Mi was always open and impulsive. Outside of school hours, Mi came down to my room a few times in a day. Every time Mi had a good reason to find me: “Brother Hoang! Take me to town for a bit." Or: “Brother Hoang! Go into the neighborhood and ask for some lemongrass tubers for me!". Or: “Brother Hoang! Lend me the book!"

Mi studied math, but she was strangely fond of literature. She memorized many poems by Pushkin, Maia, Nguyen Du and some pre-war poets. She talked to me about literature without getting bored. I realized that Mi read various books.And had a very profound in literature.

Once, Mi and I came home late from school. When we started to leave highway No. 1 to turn onto the gravel road, it was just sunset falling. From here, it took about an hour to get home by bike. I tried to cycle faster. I was busy cycling when Mi suddenly jumped down the road. I braked and got out of the bike in a panic.

- What happen?

Mi stood as silent as the standing sky. Eyes looked to the far horizon.

- Look!

Mi whispered. I followed Mi's hand pointing. Only in the distance were villages connected to each other. And in front of me were vast rice fields, slowly changed the color.

- Do you see anything? –

Mi still whispered. I stared blankly at Mi's face shining in the twilight.

- Those… oak trees… there!

Mi stammered with emotion. Mi's emotions suddenly rushed over to me.

- L.Tolstoi's oak trees!

I shouted softly. Then boldly stretched out my arms and hugged Mi. She totally leaned on me. Her head rested on my chest.

- Say "Love me"!

Mi spoke very softly, but clearly and quickly like a breeze. I turned around and looked straight at Mi. I looked deeply into the depths of her beautiful deep eyes. I hugged Mi tightly to my heart and kissed gently on her lips.

Time to study in pedagogical school went so fast. I and Mi both graduated with high results. And we were able to return to work in our home district.After Mi and I settled in, we held a wedding ceremony. After the wedding, my wife and I moved out to live separately.

In my hometown, there has been a custom for generations. It is the house and land of the parents that are left for the eldest son. There are also families that leave assets for the youngest son to inherit. In this case, the elder brother and his wife must have a generous heart for the younger brother.

When I went to live separately, Mi and I only brought two small suitcases: One of the wife, one of the husband. The wedding bed was boughtby my savings, which I left to my younger sister who was also getting married soon.

I asked to transfer to the same school as Mi. We moved into the school dormitory. Among the families in the dormitory, there is Mr. Tu's family, both werethe school's teachers. Loan's and Phuc's husbandswere still in the army. And Vinh’s husband was working at the Procuracy of the province. Of the five families, four had children. The most crowded family has three, the least has one. Only my wife and I were still free.

Tu's family had many members. Both husband and wife were hard working. In addition to the time to prepare lessons for class, they were all working hard to increase production. Not just teacher Tu's family, every family in the dormitory were the same. The school's vacant land was very spacious. Where trees can be planted, people try to plant. From sugarcane bushes, cassava clumps to loofah, vegetables... The products from that strength and sweat had also served for shortages of daily life.

The alone families were Mrs. Loan and Mrs. Phuc. Their husbands just went away. The children were all young, get sick always. Every time they were sick, the whole dormitory was worried. Some took them to the hospital, other tried to find medicine. Even the pig of one family stopped eating, everyone gathered to find a cure.

Our dairy standards, one month we spent on my parents, the other month on my wife's parents. In the third month, you can keep it for yourself. But if there was a sick child in the dormitory, we brought it to them “We are healthy, we can eat anything. Children are sick, need some nourishment." Mi said so.When Mrs. Loan gave birth to another child, at that time, the food store added dried cassava to the food standards. Before going to bed, Mi discussed with me: "This month, we will carry the padding for Mrs. Loan!".

I found that Mi was more beautiful than anything attractive in the world. I rolled into her lap. Kissing all over her body. Mi's slender fingers traced the chin of my beard, gently rubbing my body. She put her lips close to my ear: "Calm down, the house next door is still awake!". I whispered in her ear: "I'm sure everyone will sympathize with us". She grabbed my head and pulled me to her chest. Our two bodies entwined. Get lost in the space of happiness...

My wife and I as well as other teachers at the school, were very passionate about our profession. Mi was very active in attending class visits, often learning from the experiences of her colleagues. To prepare for an hour of class, Mi read more references. Although she has just graduated, the teachers in the school all appreciated that Mi hadstrong skills.

On free evenings, everyone gathered in the courtyard. Teacher Tu accompanied the guitar for Mrs. Phuc and Mi to sing. Mrs. Phuc was old but still retains her smooth and youthful voice. Very compatible with Mi's voice. The two passionately sang all the songs requested by people. Singing until the dew covered with leaves and falling on our heads. Then everyone took a break.

There were also moonlit nights, the children pulled together to play outside. The adults gathered around to listen to me and Mr. Tu discussed literature. Then everyone turned to discuss the student's learning situation. We worked together to find effective teaching methods. Frankly advised each other on class times. People also talked about everyday life. There were a couple of lamentations… Mi enthusiastically resolves: “The country has just gone through such a long and fierce war. Let's believe in tomorrow…”

It was Mi's turn to give birth. Again the busy, the hard, the difficulties. Sometimes Mi also felt discouraged before the shortages that are increasingly weighing on the life. But my wife and I had everyone around us, we relied on each other. Let's save money together, gradually step through… so that we remained one-hearted with our profession, with our careers.

The time passed. The country entered a period of renewal. The change of the market economic mechanism pushed the change of many lives and families. The life of the people in my hometown was improved day by day. People started thinking about taking care of their children's education. Then the student's need for additional learning arose. Some teachers opened classes to teach more. And Mi also started to open classes.

At first, each student only had to pay a small amount with a modest contribution. But for families in the countryside, money to spend for daily life was still limited. But the students' parents still enthusiastically tried. Because everyone wanted to leave their children with good education.

Mi taught math, and I taught literature. Initially only teaching the upper grades, and prepared students for the entrance exam to high school. Our review classes every year achieved a very high rate. Therefore, students come to register to study more and more. I was really pleased with the love of my students…

The work fascinated us to the point of dizziness. Because we still had to ensure the school's teaching plan. I and Mi have well implemented all professional regulations. We never undercut or overlap our prescribed programs and we did everything else well. Always tried to achieve the title of good teacher at all levels.

Mi was not only a good teacher but also a good classroom teacher. I must admit that Mi had an art of classroom work that not many teachers in the school can do. Individual students, no matter how stubborn, entered Mi's class was to follow the rules immediately. There have been children who have made tremendous progress, surprised their parents and everyone else.The school's students were all children of farmers. Almost all teachers were afraid of the amount of money. As for Mi, it was light. Mi’s class always completed all payments ahead of time.

In the final grades, Mi always had gifts for each student. It was just a card or a small notebook. Mi stayed up at night to neatly write each line of farewell cards. And so the students always thought of their teacher.

We had extra income. I noticed that the family's economy was getting better quickly. A few years ago, Mi bought land on a district street. Then we built a house. Repaired motorbikes and other means of living. I thought I was living in a dream.

One morning, Mi went to teach. I was drinking tea when the electric bell rang. I opened the door. In front of me was a man whose age was difficult to guess. He was wearing a faded Suzhou cloth. Sun-tanned skin, sunken eyes looked at me. He brought a boy. Iguessed his son.

- Sorry! Who do you ask?

The man looked at me for a moment and then burst out laughing.

- Oh my God! So you don't recognize me for real? I'm Canh. The strongest eater in the platoon, often had to eat others’ rice.

He smiled, grabbed my hand and shook it.

- Canh! I remember! Damn it! Sympathize for me. You changed so much!

And I recognized him right away. How fat and handsome he was.

I invited Canh into the house. Poured water to invite Canh and son. After chatting for a while, Canh boldly stated the reason for his visit.

- I agree! Just leave him here for us. I will definitely train him to pass the entrance exam to high school.

I kept Canh stay to eat. But Canh definitely refused. He gave an excuse to be busy with another job.

I arranged for his son to stay in a separate room upstairs. My two children were studying in Hanoi, the house was very spacious, now with more people coming, it would be less deserted. But the most exciting thing was that I can help my old teammate.

At noon, Mi returned. I announced that the old friend came to send his son. Mi kept silent and said nothing. I knew Mi seemed displeased. But I already accepted, so Mi had to accept.

The boy was very bright.He was extremely hard working. Cooking the food was very good. All the cleaning was done properly. Mi's clothes, he took all the laundry. "Machine washing consumes electricity and is not clean by hand". He said so.

The day of exam has arrived. Canh and his wife came to my house to pick up their son and also wanted to have words with my wife and me. Canh and his wife brought chicken and rice. After an intimate meal, Canh asked permission to pay part of the money for us. Mi immediately handed Canh a piece of paper. I took a quick glance at the paper that had clearly written down each item's tuition, meal, electricity, water... Then the numbers added up. Canh and his wife passed each other to look at the paper. They looked at each other, their faces were little pale. Then the couple searched for money in their pockets.

- My wife and I… not prepared enough today…I pay partly first. I'm begging for pay until the beginning of this month. We will bring it to pay you!.

- Well this is fine!

Mi just took the money and answered emphatically.

Canh and his wife got up and left immediately. When they left, I closed the door.

- Why do you count them so much?

I raised my voice.

- It's also a good price! Try recalculate.

Mi called out a bunch of exact numbers.

- Don't you know he was an acquaintance of mine?

- What about the children of many acquaintances who are studying? Can everyone teach without pay?

I was startled. Before, I could only teach, and the money was at Mi. Now that I started to learn, I startled. Mi has increased the price of each tutoring session to a very high level in the area. But because of the prestige, students still rushed to apply. Among them were some children of my old teammates. There were some people who left flesh and blood in the battlefield, they faced many difficulties.When I asked, Mi replied bluntly: "Children of policy families already have the State's regime".

And those who were close relatives of both sides, friends and colleagues, but teaching other subjects, they sent their children to our classes. I assumed that Mi did not collect money from their children. Unexpectedly… so I realized why some people looked at me with different eyes recently. I suddenly remembered the sunset of that year, looked at the magical clouds, and the old banyan trees still full of energy in life, but Mi saw it as the oak trees in Russia. Where were the dreams of the past?

I felt sad. At work and also in the love of husband and wife, Mi patted me: “If we don't teach more, we won't have any money to spend. Money for children's education. Money to spend at home now. Do you know how much a month? Or do you want to return to the old life of growing cassava and vegetables?”

Hearing Mi said that, I also felt relieved in my heart. I thought to myself, many people teaching more. Perhaps because there was demand, there must be supply. And in this life, it was only natural that one person feeding the other. Now everyone can live well. It was also reasonable for them to spend a little money to educate their children.

And now I started to pay attention to Mi's money collection. Mi always had some envelopes ready. Students only needed to put money in, wrote their names and then gave to her. Mi never counted money in front of students. When got home, sheopened to count again. I felt thorns in my body every time watching Mi's fat fingers gently extracting money out of fragile envelopes. The same fingers stroked to smooth each money. Every time the money collected in the month was lower than the previous month, Mi would unreasonably angry. I felt bored.

The sadness kept creeping into my deep heart. Many times, I was just startled and bewildered. Living in the mid of wealth, full of everything, yet I still felt like something missing. Inside, it arose a desire without a name. What do I crave for? I still can't figure out what I was craving.

One afternoon I went for a walk aimlessly. I met so many people, strangers, acquaintances, and so many students I was teaching. I looked at them and they looked at me too. Suddenly, I realized that I was longing to see the eyes of students in the old days. Eyes as clear as early morning drops. Those eyes looked at me so passionate. It contained an infinite gratitude.

And so many desires, so eagerly waited for, although on each of those young faces soon lingered a bit of sunshine and rain. They knew to absorb knowledge as hard as their parents' lives. Sometimes when they did notlearn well, they looked at me with a pleading look. Yet they were still mischievous, still had fun. Because those pure souls inherited their kind and simple hearts. I loved them so much.

At that time, Mi and I, as well as other teachers in the school, often took turns to pick up bicycles to support the weak students or train students who were preparing to take the exams. When leaving, saw a banana or some fish hanging from the top of the bike: "Mau's friend just caught a fish. The teacher bring it home to bake and then dim the sauce for your son to eat" Another day: “My mother told me to bring you some chicken eggs compared to me. If you don't accept me, your mother will scold me."

And now, I saw often the cold eyes of the children, sometimes even their cold eyes. It was as if they wanted to say that my wealth was due to their money. I felt more and more painful. I was constantly losing sleep, and then sometimes just a nap, I woke up deliriously, sweating like a bath.

My heart was pounding as if it had just been sucked into a deep whirlpool. To be honest, I had written several times to the Women's newspaper to lament and consult Ms. Thanh Tam, the person I trusted the most. I patiently waited for a reply, but perhaps because I was too busy, I still did not see her reply. There was a colleague who was very close to me, in one drinking session, I confided to him all, he said: "Ms. Thanh Tam only mentally advises the internal affairs of women together, and you As a man, you have no right to question. You should know your fate, then silently surrender, and if you have any intention of stirring up resistance, then take care of yourself. At the very least, you could lose your progress, because of the crime of violent intent against women, unfortunately if you break the Ordinance on Protection of Mothers and Children, your life would be over".

All these serious things, but my friend smiled. I was bewildered, also smiled at me, feeling so naive.