Rhythm of life on a street corner

(Baonghean) - It's just a small piece of land less than 10m². Yet it is the livelihood of 5 families with dozens of people. I rarely see that narrow piece of land resting, it seems to be struggling with the rhythm of human life...

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The land I want to talk about is located on a street corner of Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street (Vinh City). When I was working at a nearby office, I often came here for breakfast in the morning. It was not about delicacies, we often chose sticky rice for our breakfast. As my colleagues said, on the street menu, sticky rice is still the most "trendy" dish because it helps diners feel secure about food hygiene and safety, and it is also filling and long-lasting.

The sticky rice stall we often go to is displayed right on a 10m piece of land.²that I mentioned above. Actually, there are 2 sticky rice stalls here, separated by a thin canvas. And only 1 of the 2 sticky rice stalls was chosen by me for my simple breakfast. That is the sticky rice stall of Mrs. Nguyen and her husband. The sticky rice of this nearly 70-year-old woman is sticky but not sticky, with a rich aroma of sticky rice. That is why compared to the stall next door, Mrs. Nguyen is always crowded with customers and the sticky rice sells very well. At 6am she sets up her stall and before 8am she pushes her cart back.

Intersection, where Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street is located (Vinh City). Photo: Duc Anh

Speaking more about this woman, she is from Dien Phong commune (Dien Chau), used to be a catering employee of a state agency during the subsidy period. She quit her job without any benefits, ran around to make a living, then returned to her husband when she was quite old. The couple had another child together, a daughter. When the girl was over 10 years old, that was also when the couple decided to find a small piece of land at the corner of the street to sell sticky rice to make a living. Luckily, the daughter studied well and has now graduated from university. I also met the couple's "sweetheart" daughter, she has a kind face, a gentle personality and a very charming smile.

Before, the little girl came to help her parents clean up the shop and carry things, but usually Mrs. Nguyen did not want her daughter to go there. As she said: "Why come here, society is complicated, parents can bear it, she has to take care of things at home, and also study..." Then, from selling sticky rice in the morning, Mrs. Nguyen's family's economy became more stable, on the full moon and the first day of the lunar month, she also took the opportunity to go to the pagoda and contribute a little to charity for those less fortunate than herself.

But it’s not just Mrs. Nguyen’s family and the sticky rice stall next door that make a living on that piece of land. After 8am, a woman selling drinks comes there pushing her cart. All the goods, candy, medicine… and all sorts of things are neatly arranged on the cart. The owner of the shop is hard to guess her age, looks austere and seems a bit picky. The drink vendor’s customers are usually the rickshaw drivers and cyclo drivers who work around the area. There are also a group of young people who are employees of nearby companies and businesses who come to smoke a cigarette, drink a bowl of astringent water, and eat peanut candy.

And the special thing is that there is not only the old lady's shop here, right next to the piece of land there is another drink shop whose owner is a veteran. That is Mr. Man. Actually, his family does not need money to the point of opening a drink shop. He and his wife both have pensions, their 3 children including 1 son and 2 daughters have all settled down, and their 2 daughters work in state agencies. "Just looking for joy, coming here every day to see people, to see life to relieve boredom" - that's what the old man said. Few people know that Mr. Man participated in the battle at Quang Tri Citadel in 1972, the fiercest time of the Quang Tri Campaign against American imperialism.

Mr. Man once told me: When swimming across the Thach Han River to enter the ancient citadel at night, the commander only called out names, numbers, and shined a torch on their faces to identify them. Many people died before they could even recognize their faces. It was extremely fierce, sometimes out of 10 people, all 10 died. Therefore, he did not want to waste his life when returning to normal life from the battlefield. That was how he explained why he opened a tea shop to socialize with the world, to be more useful to his family and everyone.

Just a small piece of land but there is convergence and livelihood of many people. Photo: Duc Anh

Late in the afternoon, when Mr. Man collected the tables and chairs and brought his shop home in the alley across the street, the girls selling sweet soup set up big and small pots, cups and bowls to start a working day. The customers were mainly children, so the sweet soup stalls were also arranged and decorated to be more eye-catching and “modern”.

The signboard is covered with light bulbs in fancy shapes. Printed on it are: mixed sweet soup, green beans, black beans, grapefruit sweet soup... This sweet soup shop has many dishes to serve the snacking needs of young people, but it seems to be most famous for grapefruit sweet soup. At night, many couples and teenagers flock to eat grapefruit sweet soup. The sweet soup shop is even rated by young people as the best in Vinh! After eating sweet soup, customers can also drink water with sticky rice leaves.

There are always 3-4 waiters at the small shop. They are young people who always appear to be quick and knowledgeable. However, they are just employees of a lady owner in Le Mao ward. The sweet soup shop has been there for about 15 years and will probably last for a long time. I heard that thanks to the small sweet soup shop on that narrow piece of land, the shop owner was able to build a high-rise building and buy a car. If that is true, this is truly a land that generates money.

There was a man who had no job to set up shop on the land but still earned a steady income every month. He was a motorbike taxi driver who lived nearby. The thing was, he had previously paved this land with cement so that his wife could sell goods, but later he did nothing. Using the excuse that he had invested in the foundation, the motorbike taxi driver still decided to collect money from the vendors and businesses on it every month. Knowing that it was not right, but still sharing, people like Mrs. Nguyen happily contributed a few dozen to the old man, which was called...

Moving to a new office, on the opposite side of the road, I rarely have the opportunity to come back to eat Mrs. Nguyen's sticky rice for breakfast. Only on days off do I ride my motorbike to buy some sticky rice to bring home for my family to eat for breakfast. Still, Mrs. Nguyen's sticky rice is very sticky and fragrant. Recently, she also has banh muot. She is older now, but she is still very agile and her open-mindedness still makes everyone feel happy. Every time I buy sticky rice and don't accept any change, Mrs. Nguyen still holds my hand tightly and says: "Amitabha Buddha! Thank you. I will use this money to donate to charity for the poor"./.

Quoc Son