Take grandma to Tet market

I suddenly stopped in the middle of the market, my heart filled with an indescribable feeling of gratitude. Even though I couldn't buy anything, I felt fulfilled, I had received something great that no amount of money could buy.

1. Memories of a Children's Market

The 30th Tet market is a childhood memory for many people. Photo: Ho Lai

On the 30th of Tet, the "international house cleaning" was done, everything was relatively neat and tidy, I took my bike to Giat market, in time for the last market day of the year.

Mentioning Giat market, many people may suddenly feel familiar, as if they have seen it somewhere. Giat market is the largest district market in the Quynh Luu district and Hoang Mai town (Nghe An) in the past. The market meets on even days: 5th, 10th, 15th... of the month, when all goods from all over are gathered to buy, sell and exchange.

This is also the famous buffalo and cow market of Nghe An, which was used as the setting in the short story “Giat Market” by writer Nguyen Minh Chau. In December, the market is held continuously from the 25th to the 30th, in which the 30th of Tet is considered the children's market. On this day, parents and grandparents spend time taking their children to the market to buy new clothes, toys, candies, balloons, play games...

When I was a child, my family lived in a poor midland area, more than 10 kilometers away from Giat town on a dirt and rocky road, over slopes and through fields. Therefore, every year, going to the Tet market was a source of excitement and anticipation. We, the children at that time, looked up at everything in the market like a magical world. There was Tet music playing in the record stores, there were clusters of colorful balloons in green, red, purple, and yellow, there were many toys, many games, and candy stalls. We did not dare ask our parents to buy everything for us, we just needed a few balloons to blow, otherwise, just standing and looking at everything was fun.

Giat market on the 30th of Tet. Photo: Ho Lai

But because the house was far away, and the end of the year was busy, it took my parents the whole morning to take me by bike to the district market, so every year, I was often sent to the village market, a tiny market located on one side of the road at the foot of the hill. One year, my parents were so busy preparing and cleaning the house, and with several other families in the neighborhood, they forgot about the time. When they suddenly remembered that it was already noon, my mother still hurriedly took me to the market. At that time, the market was almost over, but still crowded, with only children, I still had time to buy a string of firecrackers (now banned), and a rabbit figure for 500 dong. Yet, I was happily chirping all the way home.

I was taken to the Tet market throughout my childhood, even though life in those years was full of hardships and difficulties. It seems that, in those days, the market was not only a place to buy and sell, but also a place to have fun, meet and play during Tet. Is that why, as an implicit convention, adults reserved the last market of the year for children, so that children like us now, when grown up, would have beautiful, extremely precious memories.

2. Take grandma to the market 30

She put her arm in her grandchild's, walking through the crowded, noisy, bustling market on the last day of the year. Photo: Ho Lai

Now, it is my turn to take my younger siblings and nieces to the Tet market. Giat market is now bustling and bustling with buying and selling. The children do not lack anything. However, the Tet market only happens once a year, and there I hope they will find joy, the Tet atmosphere, or simply some memorable childhood memories. And I, like a hard-to-break habit, a nostalgia, am looking for Tet for myself, in a district market that is half old, half new.

Amidst the hustle and bustle of both adults and children, in a less crowded corner on the side of the market, I suddenly saw a young man taking his grandmother to the market. He was wearing a simple outfit, tall, and walking straight. Next to him was a grandmother with a bent back. She had her hair tied up in the old style, her hair was silver white, she had silk pants and an old brown shirt. She put her arm around her grandson's, and they walked. "I'll take you to the market. You're old, you can't go far from the village anymore, but you miss the Tet market," he said, turning to look at her and smiling gently.

Fascinating images of the rural Tet market. Photo: Ho Lai

Hearing a familiar voice, I asked and found out that he was from the same village as me. But I was from hamlet 1 at the beginning of the village, and he was from hamlet 10 at the end of the village. The old woman, her hearing was no longer clear, or because the market was too crowded and noisy, stopped, looked up, and said: "Grandma is going to the market, I will take her because she can't walk anymore. Are you going to the market too?"

Hearing her voice, she was still strong. Years ago, when she was still strong, she had carried so many trips to the market that her back was bent without her realizing it. But the load of vegetables and fish she carried had raised her children and grandchildren. Now she no longer had the strength to go far by herself, but when Tet came, like a restlessness, she missed the market, she wanted to visit the market. And her grandson took advantage of the time to please his hard-working grandmother.

He helped her carry a bag of things, including candy and incense sticks, which she said were for her to put on the family altar for Tet. The two of them walked home hand in hand, slowly, amidst the hustle and bustle of the last day of the year.

3. Full of humanity

In the past, our grandparents used to say, “The market on the 30th of Tet is the most expensive and the cheapest.” This meant that either the goods would be the most expensive, because after the 30th session, the market would not open again until a long time after Tet. Or they would be extremely cheap, “big sale”, because no one would buy them after that. But now, everything seems to be “saturated”, the price difference is not much.

The 30th of Tet market is the most expensive, the cheapest. Photo: Ho Lai

In addition to the people who do big business all year round, the Tet market seems to be spread out by the countryside goods that have been stored and waited for the whole year for the women and mothers to sell. Farmers pull up the remaining flower beds that have bloomed and bring them to the market to sell to earn a few extra coins because this year's Tet weather is warm and the flowers bloom too early. The women sit down with a few bunches of green bananas, a bunch of betel and areca nuts, or a few grapefruits picked from the garden. "Today's grapefruits are only 15 thousand each, you children buy them for me to take home." Saying that, but sitting down to look, pondering, picking them up and putting them down, the customers who are not satisfied get up and leave, she is still happy. At this age, she goes to the market to earn some money to have fun, staying at home is boring. So on the 30th of Tet, she still goes to the market, to talk, to greet, to ask about each other.

I didn’t intend to buy anything on the 30th of Tet, but standing in the middle of the market at that time, I felt my heart fuller. I found what I wanted, that in between buying and selling, the market is also a place where we can see humanity, love, and connection between people, even with the smallest things.