The story of flower vendors on Vinh street

1. AboveLe Hong Phong Street(Vinh City), bustling streams of people going back and forth, hurrying home, to have a cozy dinner together. On the street corner, Tran Van Nam and his younger brother were busy making a fire, lighting lamps to warm the apricot trees. Nam was born in 1991, from Hoai Nhon (Binh Dinh), this is his second year selling apricot trees. "Working as a freelance worker in Saigon, near Tet, I returned to my hometown, collected apricot trees from growers, then hired a car to transport them to Nghe An to sell, to earn extra income," Nam said.

Tran Van Nam from Hoai Nhon (Binh Dinh) shared with reporters his feelings about the Tet flower trading profession. Photo: PV

200 pots of mai with a capital of nearly 200 million VND and transportation costs of 20 million VND, rental costs of 5 million VND for 20 days, not to mention the cost of food and drink during the days of "camping" in Vinh to sell mai. "That is a large amount of money, the capital I saved and borrowed to do business. But selling flowers, it is difficult to be sure of winning or losing. Just take the risk and do business like that, if I am lucky, I will meet a customer who sells all the goods, then I will have more income. If it is a bad year, I will have to sell it all, sell it all off to salvage the capital and go back to my hometown", Nam shared.

After more than half a month of staying in Vinh to sell Tet apricots, the two Nam brothers set up a temporary tent to shelter from the sun and rain. The electricity was also pulled and madeshift. A hammock was hung on two concrete poles to serve as a place to rest. Inside the tent was a bottle of mineral water, a box of instant noodles and a stainless steel pot, used both to boil water and to serve as a bowl for mixing noodles.

To cope with the harsh weather, Nam had to find dry firewood and light a fire to keep warm. Photo: Thanh Phuc

“This year, we came out too early, from December 11, so at that time, there was no one in this empty lot. The 200 pots of mai flowers placed down were our entire fortune, so we were very worried. We were so tired at night, but we didn’t dare to sleep, we had to take turns, when I slept, you stayed awake, when I stayed awake, you slept to watch over the mai flowers. In my hometown, it’s not as cold as here, during the day it’s bearable, but at night the wind blows through and it’s bone-chilling, in addition to the heater, we also had to burn more firewood to keep warm,” Nam said, stirring the coals, adding more dry wood to the fire, warming his hands to get warm, his voice still trembling because he was not used to the cold and humid climate in Nghe An.

Every night, the Nam brothers take care of the apricot blossoms, looking for ways to make them bloom in time for Tet. Photo: Thanh Phuc

For Nam, the biggest wish right now is to quickly sell all the goods, to catch the bus back to Binh Dinh to celebrate Tet with his family.

2.At 8 p.m., when the streets were bustling with people shopping, strolling, and having coffee, Tran Van Duong in Truong Thi ward (Vinh city) scooped rice from the thermos his mother had just brought. “Wait a minute, I’ll eat first, or it’ll get cold,” Duong greeted the guests in a hurry. Behind the kumquat trees laden with yellow fruit, the light from the streetlights shone in, Duong quickly ate dinner to water the 700 kumquat pots that had just been unloaded.

A quick meal of Tran Van Duong, selling kumquats for Tet on Lenin Avenue. Photo: Thanh Phuc

7 years workingkumquat trading professionFor the same number of years, Duong did not have the "concept" of shopping for Tet, cleaning the house to celebrate Tet with his wife and children. There were years when he did not even have time to come home to have a New Year's Eve meal with his family, until the New Year's Eve was approaching, he packed up his shop to rest. This year, Duong went to Van Giang (Hung Yen) to wholesale 700 kumquat pots of all kinds to sell for Tet. Duong rented a space right in front of the gate of Vocational College No. 1 on Lenin Avenue.

On the evening of December 16, the goods arrived in Vinh. Before that, Duong had cleared the area and set up a temporary tent to eat, sleep and rest there. “For more than half a month, we ate lunch boxes, drank bottled water and slept in a tent. The house is only 2 kilometers from the place of sale, but we cannot leave the shop and go home. If customers come to see or buy, we have to advise and sell the goods! This year, my wife is pregnant so I have to stay home to cook. Before, every time this happens, my wife and I and our young child are “stationed” here,” Duong shared with a smile.

Duong's place of stay for more than half a month near Tet. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Duong said, one year, on the 28th of Tet, in Vinh, everyone was shopping to go back to their hometowns, the streets were deserted but there were still hundreds of kumquat pots. There was no other way, Duong had to rent a small truck, transport kumquats to Hung Nguyen, Nam Dan, Thanh Chuong to sell on the street. When the goods were sold out, it was already the afternoon of the 30th of Tet. He hurriedly returned, cleaned the house, cleaned the altar and welcomed New Year's Eve. "Each job has its own job, sister. Earning money is not easy. Working in the flower and ornamental plant business like us, we have a hundred worries. Worry about the weather, if it's too sunny, the kumquats will wilt and can't be sold; if it's cold and rainy, if we don't cover them well, the fruit will fall, break, and the kumquats will look ugly and be difficult to sell. Worry about a slow year, not being able to sell goods, losing money, losing capital, and considering it a lost Tet," Duong's voice dropped.

Late dinner of a group of ornamental plant traders on Lenin Avenue. Photo: Thanh Phuc

But as Duong shared, with the meager salary of an office worker, if he did not take advantage of going to trade during Tet, how could he support his family? The newly built multi-storey house was also thanks to the profits from selling kumquat trees during the past Tet. Therefore, trading is "sometimes profitable, sometimes not", we have to accept it...

At this time, every street in Vinh city is full of flowers, peach blossoms, kumquat trees, chrysanthemums, roses... bringing a bustling and joyful atmosphere. As scheduled, ornamental plant traders gather to bring Tet to the streets. Most of them are from the districts in the province and there are also many people from other provinces and cities such as: Nam Dinh, Hung Yen, Hai Duong, Thai Binh, Binh Dinh...

The fitful sleep of peach blossom traders during Tet. Photo: Thanh Phuc

Selling Tet flowers, in addition to having to work hard, carry heavy loads, eat for free, and wait temporarily, also faces countless worries because selling flowers is a bit like... gambling. The Tet flower market is increasingly risky because there are hundreds of sellers, because of the harsh weather, because it is a "flower product" so just a little carelessness can lead to heavy losses. Accepting to be away from home on the eve of Tet, accepting to return home after New Year's Eve, Tet flower sellers have contributed to making Spring more joyful, the streets more brilliant; and hoping to earn a little income to provide their families with a warm and happy Tet.