Looking forward to seeing you again soon!

(Baonghean)That was the sentiment expressed by Mr. Nguyen Dinh Hien after attending the meeting of outstanding contributors to Nghe An Newspaper yesterday. Mr. Hien, currently the Vice Chairman of the People's Council of Dong Hop commune, Quy Hop district, was invited to the meeting of outstanding contributors. He requested permission from his agency to travel to Vinh a day early, hoping to meet and chat with people he had previously only encountered through news articles in the newspaper.

The night before the meeting, for a reason that was quite coincidental, even nonsensical—that only he and I could smoke traditional Vietnamese tobacco—we immediately became friends. From then on, throughout our two days in Vinh, he invited me along wherever he went. He told me that while at home researching the list of outstanding collaborators, he intended to meet with the two of us at this meeting.

First, I'll meet and get to know the beautiful Tran Ngoc Lan; according to the address, she's from Quy Chau. I should meet her so we can arrange to meet when we're traveling together, and if possible, invite her to have coffee in Vinh.

Secondly, I hope to meet Mr. Hai Trieu. His articles are truly journalistic works with profound intellectual depth, possessing a rich "reserve" of language, knowledge, and culture. I hope to meet this esteemed gentleman to connect with him and learn from him.



Before the conference, he went to find and see these two people in person. It turned out that the Hai Trieu he had imagined was actually a young, pretty, and even somewhat shy third-year university student. And Tran Ngoc Lan was a seasoned collaborator, wearing a cowboy coat and a baseball cap pulled down over her smoke-stained face, looking completely carefree. He'd been completely fooled!

Ngo Kien