Vegetable market at midnight

(Baonghean) - When everyone is asleep, at the gate of Van market, Quynh Van commune (Quynh Luu), people organize a market to buy and sell vegetables and fruits. At 1 a.m., the struggle to make a living begins again.

Quynh Van night vegetable market at 2am was very bustling. Vegetables and fruits were displayed everywhere, buyers and sellers were bustling. It was pitch dark, the high-pressure lamps at the market gate were not bright enough, so both sellers and buyers used flashlights as tools to find their way and see the vegetables. The buying and selling of vegetables and fruits at this time was mostly wholesale, so it happened quickly.

At the night market, there is no haggling like in the daytime market, the selling price is only slightly different from the price set by the owner. Sometimes, people do not haggle because the customers are all acquaintances, long-time friends, so the price is agreed upon, no haggling, up and down. At the Quynh Van night vegetable market, many small traders buy wholesale in large quantities to take to Vinh, Thanh Hoa, so there are often many trucks waiting for people to load vegetables and then move.

Not only trucks, some traders in Hoang Mai Town also use passenger vans to transport vegetables. Every night, at this market, there are 3 40-48 seat passenger vans whose owners remove the seats to store vegetables for traders to bring to Vinh for consumption.

Night vegetable market in Quynh Van commune (Quynh Luu).

It is known that the supply of green vegetables for the night market is mainly provided by people in Quynh Van, Quynh Luong, Quynh Bang communes (Quynh Luu district) and Quynh Lien commune (Hoang Mai town). In addition, some traders said that other vegetables and fruits originating from China such as onions, garlic, pumpkins, and potatoes are brought from wholesale markets in Hanoi. Ms. Le Thi Thuan, born in 1965, a tax collector at Quynh Van night vegetable market, said: "The vegetable market here is usually open from 1 am to 11 am.

Previously, the market was held at the old Van market gate (on National Highway 1A), so the scene was chaotic and caused traffic insecurity. Since Van market was relocated and the site was returned to the archaeological site, the situation of encroaching on the national highway to sell vegetables has disappeared, and the potential risk of traffic accidents has also been significantly reduced.

If vegetable farmers also have to work hard, having to take care of each row of vegetables day and night to bring them to the market to sell, then the traders at the market have to work just as hard. Every night, they cannot sleep well, having to work hard to earn an income for this difficult life. Quickly counting each bunch of coriander he has just bought, Mr. Nguyen Van Ninh, 47 years old in Quynh Trang commune (Hoang Mai town) shared: "We have few fields, so when the farming is off, my wife and I come here to sell vegetables. Although the job requires staying up all night, accepting sleeplessness, it also provides extra income to pay for the children's education."

Mr. Ninh and his wife have been doing this job for over 10 years. They usually sleep at 9pm and wake up at midnight to go to the market to get goods to bring to Vinh City to sell for profit. After deducting expenses, each day the couple earns from 300,000 to 400,000 VND.

Purchasing from 1 to 3 am, Mr. Ninh and his wife could only collect 6 boxes of vegetables and tubers of all kinds. While struggling to carry each box of vegetables onto the bus, Mr. Ninh sighed: "It's been raining a lot this season, so the vegetables that people grow are not much, green vegetables are very rare. Whenever a vegetable truck comes, the traders compete to buy them. Every night I have to spend 3-4 million VND for the goods, but near Tet, I only need half of that amount to bring enough goods to Vinh." As soon as he finished speaking, he saw the woman pulling the cart carrying vegetables arriving, Mr. Ninh rushed out: "What kind of vegetables are these? Let me take them all."

Not far from Mr. Ninh, Ms. Tran Thi Minh, born in 1981 in Quynh Loc commune (Hoang Mai town) is also picking sweet cabbage to load onto a motorbike. The hard work, working day and night, makes her look much older than her 34 years of age. Her husband is bedridden due to a serious illness, and she alone works hard to take care of her two young children's education. "My life is poor and difficult, but no matter how hard it is, I still try to give my children an education, hoping that in the future they will escape poverty," Ms. Minh said, her eyes looking into the distance.

Among hundreds of buyers and sellers at the Quynh Van night vegetable market, we met 77-year-old Mrs. Ho Thi Phuc from Hamlet 7, Quynh Van Commune, who also came here to buy bunches of vegetables and then bring them back to the market to sell for a profit to buy areca nuts and cakes. Mrs. Phuc has been making a living at this night vegetable market for 40 years, and she is the most senior person in this market. Every 30 days a month, with her "fishing rod" of a shoulder pole on her shoulder, regardless of rain or shine, or the cold winter wind, Mrs. Phuc still wakes up at 2 a.m. and walks nearly 1 kilometer from her house to the vegetable market. Coming closer, I asked: "You are old and weak, why go to the market all night and get tired?". Quickly carrying the pole full of two baskets of vegetables, she replied: "I'm used to it, I only sleep a few hours a day. My children don't let me go, but I can't stand being idle at home. Now that I have the health, I still go to the night market to sell vegetables."

Then the passenger buses and trucks loaded with vegetables turned around and headed straight to Vinh, bringing with them the hope for a new day for the traders. At 4am, the gate of Van market opened, motorbikes loaded with vegetables rushed into the market. The traders took the opportunity to spread out tarps, arrange the vegetables and tubers in their correct seats and waited for the customers of the new day.

Only by going and staying up at the night vegetable market can one understand how busy and tiring the work of the traders here is. However, that work also brings joy and is the main source of income for many families. And for a long time, Quynh Van night market has become an indispensable part of the daily life of the people in the area.

Duy Ngoi