High rise residents and their 'tricks' for making a living

(Baonghean.vn)-Only now do I know that in those old houses are different lives and identities. To make a living, during those difficult years, the people of Quang Trung tried every way to earn money to maintain their family life....

The man who has devoted his whole life to carpentry in area B3, Quang Trung apartment building.

During the subsidy years, most people’s lives were miserable, but those who received state salaries suffered even more because they had to buy rice, meat, vegetables, and fuel with coupons. While civil servants living on land and houses could improve their lives by raising livestock and growing crops, only a few Quang Trung residents could do that. Others chose to do other side jobs “with Quang Trung colors” to earn a living.

On a return to Quang Trung, Dr. Le Thong Nhat - a teacher who lived in A5 for many years, then A6 happily said: "Talking about teaching exam preparation, I am already famous in Vinh, but I am even more famous for my skills in making peanut candy and rolling cigarettes." He said that outside of class time, he and his wife sat at the table rolling cigarettes by hand, and at night they cooked peanut candy.

The advantage is that there are many parents selling tea shops, the talented teacher of Vinh Pedagogical University contracts most of the peanut candy and tobacco products of the tea shops along Quang Trung Street and the surrounding area. Not only Mr. Nhat but also many teachers living in Quang Trung sit diligently at the table rolling tobacco after hours of grading papers. Children are busy cutting the "tobacco beard" and packing it so that their mothers can take advantage of their free time to deliver the goods the next day.

The old man's candy and cigarette shop is under the stairs of Quang Trung's house.

At that time, the demand for ice to quench thirst in the summer in Vinh city was quite high, so some families who had members who went to the Soviet Union bought Saratov refrigerators, the ice making function was fully utilized. It usually took about 8 hours to make a batch of ice, each refrigerator could hold 2 trays like that... It was sunny, the ice had not yet frozen when the shop stood on the ground and shouted: Mrs. G., is it ice yet? Hurry up so people can sell? Usually the supply could not keep up with the demand because the refrigerators were small, and the multi-storey buildings sometimes had power outages.

Many families are said to have refrigerators but their children still only “look at the ice” because any ice they make is taken to the shop, and the family still does not dare to use it because “ice feeds people”. Remembering the subsidized summers, the sunny noons when he would bring out a few ice cubes to the shop to sell as refreshments, I remember my father, Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Quy Dy, in a moment of excitement with his colleagues in the Mathematics Department, “Saratov Bay”, the fishing rod for my family’s livelihood:

Plugged in shaking all over
Drain the water from your feet to the floor.
Hey rich gentleman
Plug it in, don't pull it out too quickly.

Some mothers and sisters who were afraid to “show their faces” in the street chose to knit wool to increase their income. At that time, Vietnamese people favored Lao wool hats, which covered their ears and heads in the winter, but buying genuine products was expensive. So someone bought wool and hired mothers and sisters to knit it. It usually took about 2 days to complete a wool hat like that, the salary was about 400 dong, enough to buy 2 bunches of Vinh Tan water spinach, the “best” vegetable at that time. The mothers of Quang Trung also established a “knitting club”, meeting to gather at a house where the husband often ran away to play, knitting and chatting about all sorts of things, when excited, the mothers and sisters also sang, Vi Giam Aoi melodies…

Van Dan noodle shop in B2 Quang Trung area.

The better-off families who had sewing machines took on the processing of ready-made garments. Most of them processed clothes for export to Eastern Europe, the “contractor” provided the thread, buttons for shirts and pants. Most of the sewing machines at that time did not have motors, they had to be pedaled by foot. The sound of the pedals of the sewing machines at night was so clear that some people got used to it until they ran out of stock and had trouble sleeping. My family also had a Butterfly sewing machine from the former Soviet Union. During the summer, my mother painstakingly cut and sewed school uniforms and sent them to my father’s hometown in Nam Dan to sell before the start of school. When the “brand” began, my mother occasionally received “orders” from relatives in the countryside, and if she could not finish them in time, she would pass them on to her neighbors to earn more income. In poverty, the love of sharing is always abundant!

Every evening, families near the 12/9 Cinema gather together to hold a tray with a few packs of cigarettes, a few jars of peanut candy, sesame candy, and a pot of green tea... eagerly eating dinner early and inviting each other to "draw beautiful pictures" to sell goods quickly.

History never repeats itself. There are memories that seem to be forgotten by the passage of time, but if someone accidentally mentions them again, they still make those involved feel moved. My life and that of my contemporaries, closely tied to Quang Trung, was like that, difficult but full of pride!

Article: An Thanh

Photo: Hazone - Binh Nguyen