Dried shrimp program!

(Baonghean) - The other day, my roommate, "the chubby guy," and I were working on a program. We wanted to find images of the countryside, boats, rivers, and buffaloes grazing to use as background music for a melody we both really liked.

After wandering around for a while, I finally decided to invite my "chubby, dark-skinned" friend to Hoa Lam hamlet in Hung Hoa commune (Vinh City), which was both nearby and convenient. That area seemed to have all the natural landscapes ready for any camera lens, any angle; it felt like no matter where you placed your camera, you'd get a beautiful scene. You could consider Hoa Lam hamlet a "repository" of photographic materials of the riverside countryside, readily available whenever needed!

Arriving in Hoa Lam, I saw the residents of this riverside fishing village drying shrimp in their small courtyards. Picking up a handful and bringing it to my nose, I was suddenly greeted by a familiar scent that evoked so many years of my childhood. My village used to be in the middle of a low-lying rice paddy, and every house had a net, a trap, and bundles of traps for catching shrimp. And every house had dried shrimp. If they couldn't eat them fresh, they dried them for later. More importantly, they dried them so that during rainy, stormy, or flood times when food was scarce, they could use them. They kept well and could be used in many dishes – who wouldn't like that? Dried shrimp was truly a very suitable "preserved" food in the countryside.

Back in my hometown, I was also very passionate about music and journalism. But with music, I could only listen; nobody taught music back then, so writing music was the only way to pursue it. Therefore, writing articles was the only way I could do it. I'd write about anything and everything. After finishing an article, I'd go to the post office, buy stamps, put them on an envelope, send it out, and wait. My first article, about catching rats during the rainy season, was published immediately. Subsequent articles, however, were never published.

One day, a friend of my father's came to visit. He said he worked in the editorial department of the newspaper I often sent my articles to. I asked him if he'd seen my work. He said, "Oh, so it's yours? Good heavens, your handwriting is terrible. The first article you wrote was about catching rats, right around the time of the Year of the Rat, so it was perfect timing and got published immediately. Later, you wrote about cats and chickens, but you'll have to wait until then. And then you wrote about snakes and lizards... there's no year for that to get published."

This time, after returning from Hoa Lam, my "chubby" friend and I finished the program and sent it to the editorial office. The editor received it and praised it. But we waited and waited and it never aired. I asked why it was so slow. The editor said, "Your program is always revolving around Vinh, the topics aren't new, unique, or original, it's all so generic. I'll save it for when I don't have any more material!" Again, "save it," sounds so familiar! Oh well, when it's my turn to submit my program, it's just like a dried-up shrimp!

Paulownia tree