The story of two women

(Baonghean) - In her poem "Sharing a Husband," the poet Ho Xuan Huong wrote: "Damn this fate of sharing a husband / One gets a warm blanket, the other is left cold," but in the poor village of Quynh Giang commune (Quynh Luu district), for more than half a century, people have been telling each other the story of Mrs. Nguyen Thi Diu, who arranged a marriage for her husband, accepting praise and criticism, in order to ensure complete happiness.

Find a wife for your husband.

Mrs. Điu is 97 years old this year. People often say that hardship prolongs life, and this saying seems to have come true for her. Mrs. Điu was born in Diễn Đoài commune, Diễn Châu district. Her life has been full of hardship. Her parents died early due to lack of food, so when she was young, she had to raise her two younger siblings, one 9 years old and the other just 6. She worked odd jobs to support them. As the years passed, she became a young woman, and many young men from the village and surrounding areas showed interest in her, but for some reason, she fell for a man from another district named Nguyễn Văn Tiêu in Hamlet 2, Quỳnh Giang commune, Quỳnh Lưu district. They became husband and wife after a short period of getting to know each other. "I married him when I was 20, and for 12 years we still had no children. His family had few siblings, so I was so worried that I wanted to go back to my parents' house so he could remarry and have someone to continue the family line. My husband wouldn't agree. I begged him, and he said, 'We've lived together for so many years, why should we separate now?'" Mrs. Điu recalled.

Mrs. Diu and Mrs. Si with their grandchildren and children.

Living with her husband, the childless woman still worried every night: "It's bad enough that I haven't had children after all these years, but not taking care of him now would be so ungrateful!" And so she did something "no one wants": she found a wife for her husband. She sought a kind woman to bear children for him. She thought that later she would treat those children as her own, and wanted them to be born to a good mother. She heard about a woman past her prime, named Hoang Thi Si (also from Quynh Giang). Mrs. Si, too, was an orphan, living with her aunt, and had been disabled since the age of six due to measles.

Fate played a cruel trick on these two unfortunate women, placing them in a situation where they shared a husband. But this didn't lead to arguments or jealousy between them. "It was 1949, she came to live with me, and we had a proper meeting ceremony and wedding. When she agreed to live with us, poverty and hunger still clung to us. Back then, the whole family only had one decent dress, and I gave it to her to wear during her wedding ceremony. The day she came here, I felt like my life's wish had come true," Mrs. Điu recalled.

When her husband took a second wife, Mrs. Diu wasn't jealous at all; she only hoped that her husband and his second wife would soon have children to continue the family line. When she learned that Mrs. Si was pregnant, she wept with joy. Each of Mrs. Si's six childbirths was a time when Mrs. Diu lovingly cared for and cradled the children of her second wife as if they were her own. Whenever any of them fell ill, she would worry sleeplessly.

And she also became a mother. It happened when she took in a healthy baby boy from a relative who asked her to care for him after his mother passed away. She agreed on the condition that the boy's father would return him after he remarried. She signed the adoption papers and officially had children from then on. Not long after, Mrs. Si gave birth to two sons. She asked the father of her adopted son to come and take his own children home to reunite with him. Seeing his biological father arrive, her adopted son refused to leave, insisting on staying as Mrs. Diu's son and then visiting his biological father again.

In 1972, during a fierce American attack, her adopted son, Nguyen Xuan Tung, eagerly went to the front lines, but unexpectedly never returned. Upon receiving the death notice, she fainted from grief. When she regained consciousness, she kept calling out her son's name. "Other people have many children and grandchildren, but I only had one adopted son, and even God showed no mercy, taking him away. It's so bitter, sir. Fortunately, my other children love me and treat me like their own mother, so I feel comforted," Mrs. Diu said sadly.

Before the grief of losing her child could subside, she had to mourn the death of her husband. In 1975, Mr. Nguyen Van Tieu suddenly passed away in his sleep, leaving behind two wives. Only mutual understanding could keep these two women together, sharing both joys and sorrows.

The sweet fruit of the late season

Now 97 years old, Mrs. Diu recently survived a life-threatening illness in the hospital, but fate hasn't taken her yet, so she's still alive and mentally sharp, talking to her grandchildren. She gives her war veteran's mother's allowance to her children and saves it to reward her grandchildren for their hard work. She also manages a small grocery store to provide extra income for her children and grandchildren. Now, being bedridden and unable to sell goods, she feels restless. "She came to live with me at the age of 20, and now she's over 80. Living with me, she endured countless hardships and humiliations, but I never once scolded or spoke harshly to her. Whether hungry or full, we always supported each other, day and night," Mrs. Diu said, looking at Mrs. Si with affectionate eyes.

Now, Mrs. Diu and Mrs. Si live with their second daughter-in-law and their grandchildren and great-grandchildren. The two women are of advanced age, but the disabled woman still cares for and looks after the sick and ailing one every day. Their children and grandchildren live nearby, so they can easily visit both of them. Whenever their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren return, the sunken eyes of these two unfortunate women light up with happiness, and the house is filled with joyful laughter.

Duy Ngoi