Bustling night market...

(Baonghean) -They rarely have a full night’s sleep, a peaceful night, or a comfortable day with a normal routine. They are the ones who make a living at the main night markets: Cau Bung market, Giat market, Thai Hoa, Vinh… with so much hardship to have night markets…

At 10:30 p.m., I got in the car with Mr. Ho Van Lan (44 years old) and his wife in Tan Son commune (Quynh Luu) to start a regular trip of traders at Thai Hoa market - one of the crowded and bustling vegetable wholesale markets in the Northwest of the province. He and his wife are originally from Quynh Luong commune, a famous vegetable growing commune. In the past, the villagers migrated to the mountains, now Tan Son commune, bringing with them the traditional occupation of their ancestors, growing vegetables and running the market.

When he reached Highway 48, he turned the car toward Dien Chau and said, “My wife and I sell goods at Thai Hoa market, but this time there is a drought, there is a shortage of vegetables and fruits in the village, so we have to go down to Dien Chau to get the goods, then go back up there.” Then he told me about the journey of the bunches of vegetables, eggplants, etc. Since the afternoon, the families with vegetables and fruits in the village have been packing them into baskets and bringing them to his house.

Many traders, to save money and reduce the cost of goods, go to the garden to pick pumpkins, eggplants, pull onions, pull vegetables, then load them onto the car and leave. When there are many goods, they start to leave at 12:00 - 1:00 am, but when there are few goods like this time, they have to leave earlier, go to other places to collect enough goods and then go to the market. Vegetable growers now have a much easier time than before. In the past, every family that grew vegetables would sell them themselves, with 2 baskets on each side of the bicycle, and pedal from midnight to the market, while families with better conditions would ride motorbikes. That's why people call vegetable growers "2-basket people". Nowadays, things are more "specialized", vegetable growers just need to take good care of the vegetables, and when they are ready to harvest, people will come to their homes to buy them. It's rare to find a family that still grows vegetables and sells them at the market.

Now, people like Mr. Lan have replaced them in the market, thanks to their background as vegetable growers, knowing the "source of goods", having enough knowledge and experience about vegetables, tubers, and fruits, having a little capital, buying a car and collecting vegetables and tubers in the village to sell. "It's become a profession, going out every night, it's just a way to make a living, taking work as profit, there's no joy in working night for day", Mr. Lan kept "telling stories while walking on the road" like that.

It was almost 2am when the car arrived at Thai Hoa market, which was also the time when the night market started to operate. Under the street lights, the night market appeared in all colors: red tomatoes, carrots, green vegetables, squash, onions, garlic, potatoes, and all kinds of flowers, apples, mangoes, guavas, dragon fruits. Outside the market gate, motorbikes carrying goods and small trucks arrived one after another. The traders at Thai Hoa night market come from neighboring communes and districts, and often go in pairs, both husband and wife, to support each other.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuy (37 years old) in Nghia Thuan, Thai Hoa, carrying a motorbike full of spinach and squash, stopped right at the market gate, struggling to call someone to hold the motorbike, because the goods were heavy and bulky. Today, her husband was busy and could not go with her. While untying the rubber band to unload the vegetables, she said: "This is not enough, every other day I carry 4.5 quintals."

Transport goods to the night market.

The third lunar month turned cold, and drizzle fell over the hurried figures. At this time, there were not many people, mainly merchants, unloading goods from the truck, stacking them in piles and crates back to their places. The night was at its quietest, and people were quiet at this time, talking to each other softly and briefly. Occasionally, a family would bring a truck of squash, a rare commodity at this time, and many people would gather around, fighting over it.

The traders here have been here for decades, they know everyone in the market, from sellers to buyers, and even know each other's family circumstances. That's why selling at the night market has its own characteristics: the market only sells wholesale, not retail, there is no bargaining, and there is no cheating or stealing. No thief dares to appear here, because the whole market is like family, they know who is a stranger, if there is anything, they just need to shout and everyone will gather around...

I watched as piles of goods were dumped out, and saw each wholesale buyer, carrying a flashlight, choosing the goods themselves, putting them in plastic bags, asking for the price, weighing them themselves, multiplying the total amount, and reporting to the shop owner. Naturally and comfortably, no one worried or looked at the scale to see if there was any cheating or fraud. They just discussed with each other whether today's goods were better than yesterday's, whether the price had increased or decreased, or asked each other questions.

A corner of Thai Hoa night market.

Mr. Lan said: “The night market is a wholesale market, we all know each other, we only dare to buy when we place an order, not just want to buy a lot to sell, so everyone does their own job, take each lot and arrange it themselves. We only buy a few more than the import price, not much, otherwise how can we call it a night market, a wholesale market”. The time to rest from weighing goods is when the sellers take a nap to relieve their sleepiness. I walked around the market, everyone was busy with their work, but occasionally, they couldn't hide their yawns and their eyes seemed to close because they hadn't had a night's sleep all year.

At 4-5am, the market is busiest and most crowded. At this time, there are more buyers. Sellers also want to sell out quickly before the night ends. The laughter, the exchange, the invitation to sell seems to wake up the whole market that has been bustling since before. Piles of vegetables, pineapples, squash, mangoes... are left in baskets but have been arranged to be... eye-catching, attractive to buyers. Mr. Nguyen Van Luc (Quynh Luu) has been selling here for more than 10 years, sharing his "experience": "Actually, the goods just need to be poured out, some people come to buy by themselves, because they know each other, but if you arrange them a little bit skillfully, the goods will look better, more even, customers will like them more, but if you leave them "tossed around", they will be damaged, lowering the price of your vegetables.

At dawn, the buyers unpacked the boxes of vegetables and fruits and arranged them neatly and beautifully along each market row. Those who imported goods to sell at the small market also tied the bags, bags, and boxes of vegetables and fruits onto their vehicles, then hurriedly ran back to make it to the morning market. Wholesalers cleaned up the trash and plastic bags in a corner, and arranged the remaining piles of vegetables and fruits that were lying around neatly. A long night had passed. Now, it was their turn to sit and sell retail, until they ran out of goods, then went home, then took advantage of the day's nap, and continued their buying and selling journey at night...

Day after day passes by, the people who make a living at the Night Market accept it as a habit, finding attachment and simple joy in that hard-earned life. They contribute to the hustle and bustle of the streets during the day, by diligently working at their jobs in the quiet life at night.

Lake Lai