Peaceful market life

(Baonghean) - In Vinh, there are many markets. Old, famous markets, even mentioned in folk songs such as Vinh market, later there were also Cua Bac, Cua Dong, Ben Thuy markets...; many new markets were built such as Phong Toan, Hung Dung, Ga, Coi markets...; there are countless temporary markets at every street corner and residential area. This small corner at the foot of B1 Quang Trung building, the market at the foot of Quyet mountain, Nghi Phu market, Quan Banh market, Quan Bau market... There are markets everywhere. And, each market has its own unique features...

I was once surprised when you asked me: Why do you always like to live in an apartment? And I answered that I don't want to live anywhere else partly because I miss... the market, because I miss... the market. After a while of "eyes wide open", you nodded, seeming to understand: "Yes, first is near the market, second is near the river". But for me, it's not simply about convenience. I miss the market, like missing a familiar face. I miss the market because it has become so familiar to my daily life. I miss the market, because it is not just a place to shop, but it also gives me moments of peaceful bustle...

My market, a market about twenty years old, still looks as shabby as the first day I saw it. The roofs are covered with cement corrugated iron. The tarpaulins are stretched, weighed down by the sun and rain. Some of the stalls have been renovated, but only by laying new floors, adding glass cabinets, and adding hanging racks.

There are still so many faces of sellers and buyers. Each person carries a destiny, displayed in the market, displayed with vegetables, fruits, fish, meat every morning or every evening. They sit there, looking at the stalls, looking at the passersby, enthusiastically greeting, then turn to each other to chat a few stories, tell family stories, sometimes gossip about outsiders or hot stories in the newspapers, on the internet... In my phone book, I still save the names: Ms. Dung rice, Ms. Yen fish, Ms. Mai fruit, Phuong grocery store, Ms. Ha garlic, Ms. Van cow, Ngoc shirt... Oh my, reading them makes me feel familiar, feels as rustic as... the market.

Obviously in the middle of the city, next to the most central and modern street in Vinh city, Quang Trung market always has an old look. Many people say that it is spoiling the beauty of the street. That's right, if you stand from above and look down, it looks miserable and lost. But then, sometimes I'm startled, I think, if it changes into a new shirt, I wonder how long it will take me to get used to it? Will the old habits still exist? Yes, the market habits. I'll just call it that, a habit that people implicitly understand each other. A habit that anyone who "eats at Quang Trung market" probably shares the same feeling.

It could be formed by the convenient buying habits of customers, by a few groups of goods, or by someone clearing a seat and then sitting down one by one, and thus forming a row of vegetable sellers, a row of chicken sellers, a row of shrimp and fish sellers. Another market area was born between the old C houses. So Quang Trung market has more alleys, from Quang Trung street, from Hong Bang street, from Minh Khai street... There are stalls that only need a basket, a tiny tarp spread down. That is the guava seller from Nam Anh, Nam Dan who always "advertises" home-grown guava, garden guava, the vegetable seller from Hung Nguyen, or the corn seller from Nghi Loc...

Flower stalls at the entrance of Quang Trung market.

Quang Trung Market is not too big but has everything from clothes, jewelry, children's toys to dry and fresh food, snacks such as sticky rice cakes, rice cakes, cassava, boiled peanuts... Right at the beginning of the market are fruits, vegetables, groceries, bamboo products, flowers, and groceries. Next are rows of plastic products, porcelain, shoes, clothes, safety pins, plastic bags, blankets, rice, fabric, cosmetics. Inside, there are also food stalls from morning to afternoon. Don't think that the market is a temporary place to sell to "market people", Ms. Nguyet's "Bun vit troi" shop is very famous, many people love this mixed duck dish so much that they travel a long way, willing to sit in the middle of the market, under a shabby roof just to enjoy it.

Musician Trinh Cong Son once said that he loved the market because it was where worldly foods were displayed. Perhaps in a certain sense, he loved food as he loved the way life is nourished. I also believe that when someone wants to go to the market, that person must love life, not in the literal sense of the law of survival, but also because of the excitement that is difficult to explain about living. When we go to the market, it means that we are eager to exchange and interact, we like to blend into the crowd, into its pleasant bustle, and we are eager to buy something for our small family, so that today everyone will gather together to taste delicious dishes, in a clean room.

When we go to the market, it means we accept the rule that there is buying and selling, giving and receiving, and behind that fair game, smiles and friendly greetings are what we get, completely free of charge, and it has more meaning than a normal exchange, sometimes it can even make us feel extremely warm inside... The corner of Quang Trung market gave me that feeling. There are days when I am away from Vinh, one of the things I miss is that corner of the market.

A corner of Quang Trung market.

And I heard those echoes from the market, bustling back into my heart. Strangely, that bustling market sound made me feel strangely peaceful, as if I had let go, as if I had shared...

Thuy Vinh