The lives of people struggling to make a living on the eve of Tet

The New Year's Eve is approaching, everyone is looking forward to this sacred moment when everyone gathers together, bids farewell to the old year, and welcomes the new year. While everyone around is excitedly shopping for Tet and going out to celebrate the spring, there are still people who are struggling to make a living. They want nothing more than to sell their goods soon, finish their work quickly so they can return to their families.

It has become a habit that every year Ms. Thu sells goods until New Year's Eve. Photo: TD

For many years now, Ms. Thu (from Khoai Chau, Hung Yen) has been familiar with the dust on the road.Vinh Cityat night. With a bicycle with a long kickstand, along with colorful toys, she hopes that parents will stop by to buy a few things when taking their children to the Square. But this year, due to fearpandemic, children go to the Square less, many times she sits all night without selling any toys, so she has to sadly cycle home.

When asked when she would return to celebrate Tet with her family, Ms. Thu held back a sigh and said that she had gone back to her hometown a few days before Tet and then returned to Vinh. During the days leading up to Tet, she never stopped selling at night, even on the first night of Tet she would ride her bike out on the street in the hope that with more people out on Tet, she would sell more goods.

Even though it was almost midnight, the pot of steaming corn was still full. Photo: TD

Despite selling all kinds of goods, Ms. Hang, from Nghi Xuan (Ha Tinh), sitting at the corner of Kenh Bac bridge, is still not doing much better. It is 10 pm, but her pot of boiled corn is still full. Ms. Hang ordered corn from farmers in her hometown, each ear sells for 8,000 VND, after deducting labor, she only makes a profit of 2,000 VND. The profit is not much, but it has become a habit, every night for the past few years she has lined up to sit and sell until late at night before going home. Ms. Hang shared that during the day she prepares for Tet for her family, and at night she pushes her goods out to sit and sell. On Tet Eve, she hopes that people will want to change their taste so they go to snack shops more.

Sitting at a tea shop, sipping a cup of green tea with grilled corn has become a familiar habit of many young people around Vinh University. Photo: TD

Choosing a location to sell near Vinh University, Ms. Trinh Thanh Hien (Trung Do, Vinh City) targets young people who like iced tea and boiled corn every night. For the past 4 years, she sells at home during the day and at night pulls a cart carrying tea, boiled potatoes, and grilled corn to sell on the street.

Ms. Hien said that usually at 11pm, when there are no more customers, she cleans up her shop. Every year, she sells until the 30th night.

Every year, when talking about New Year's Eve, Ms. Hien immediately thinks of the moment of stopping the car, resting, looking up at the sky to watch the fireworks for a while, then rushing back to work. Photo: TD

Amidst the hustle and bustle of the city, there is a special thing: when everyone starts to rest, the environmental workers go out to work. Ms. Nguyen Thi Hien, from Thanh Chuong, has been doing this job for more than 3 years, every night she works until 1-2 am, sometimes later. And celebrating New Year's Eve? That is a luxury.

Ms. Hien said that every year, at the New Year's Eve, the women in the group stop their cars, look up at the sky to watch the fireworks, then go back to work. When they get home, it's already dawn, they take a shower and rest to regain their strength to work in the evening. And that's the end of Tet. "This year, we heard that there won't be fireworks, so we'll probably just hurry up and go home to our families," Ms. Hien shared.

Although she only sells tea, Ms. Lam has had nearly 20 years of joy and sadness in Vinh City at night. Photo: TD

Working at home during the day, at night her child drives her to the city, the mother sells drinks, the child watches the motorbike, yet Mrs. Lam (Nghi Hai, Nghi Loc) has been living at the street corner for nearly 20 years. She leaves her tables, chairs, cups and bowls at an office near the point of sale. She takes back as many goods as she can. It sounds fancy, but in reality, it's just a pot of tea, a few packages of melon seeds and a couple of bottles of pre-packaged soft drinks.

Mrs. Lam said that in the summer, people go out a lot, but on New Year's Eve, many people just go out and walk around town, but very few people sit and sip iced tea. In the end, only a few regular customers who walk at night stop by the shop to chat with her to relieve boredom.

Late at night, Tet is approaching, the silhouettes of people collecting scrap metal slowly leave the city center to return to their homes. Photo: TD

As the night falls, people gradually thin out. Under the colorful decorative lights shining brightly on the street are the silhouettes of urban workers and people selling grilled corn with charcoal stoves flickering in the night. Despite the hardships, their eyes still contain faith, they still diligently save every penny to take care of their small families./.

Tien Dong