Short story: Aunt Luong

Illustration: Huu Tuan

Aunt Luong was not a gentle woman. Everyone in the neighborhood seemed to want to stay away from her, although she would not hurt anyone unless they started a fight first. But if someone mistakenly took the Mid-Autumn Festival gift from the neighborhood, or accidentally kicked a ball and scared the cat in the house, that person would have to run far away. Aunt Luong would scold and scold them so much that the other person would feel ashamed of himself.

I myself did not get along with my aunt, although I always knew that without her I would not have the life I have now. I am just an orphan, since I was three years old I had to depend on my mother's younger sister. My uncles, my mother's and father's brothers, were all busy with work and had too many children in the family, so everyone agreed to let Aunt Luong raise me because she was single. Every month they contributed money to her. It was not too much, but it was enough for her not to worry about my education. However, Aunt Luong was a very frugal person. She only spent enough for meals with the concept of eating to be full without needing to eat to taste good. So I rarely had a delicious meal.

- The money Uncle Long and I contributed to her should have been enough for you two to live comfortably. Or did she hide the money somewhere? Not knowing how to be happy, she just found her way to misery! - Uncle Hung once told me.

I, a girl in her teens, often felt frustrated by my aunt’s thriftiness. Also at the age of rebellion, I often felt dissatisfied with everything around me, especially my aunt’s fierce temper. But honestly speaking, to outsiders it was like that, but to me, Aunt Luong was always gentle and considerate.

- You finish it, I don't want to eat now. Don't throw away food, it's a waste. When your mother was alive, she used to throw leftover food in the neighbor's pig trough, but I don't do that now, I don't like that family.

I never cared about the neighbors. To me, Aunt Luong was very talkative. I myself also noticed the distance between her and me growing as our conversations gradually became less frequent. Every day, she went to collect scrap metal, only at night did we talk about things that needed to be discussed, then each went to a room, each doing their own work.

One day, as I was leaving school, I saw Aunt Luong buying a bunch of cans at the grocery store right next to me. I suddenly felt ashamed of my friends. When she called after me, I turned around and looked at her with cold eyes. My friend said:

- Your aunt is calling!

At the same time, I saw that my aunt looked miserable in her torn army-colored shirt. I mumbled a sentence that I was sure only I could hear:

- I'm going home first!

Then I turned and walked quickly home. But I caught a glimpse of my aunt's sad, desolate eyes, like a wisp of smoke rising from the surface of a lake in the chilly early autumn.

From that day on, my aunt understood and stopped buying scrap metal near my school. But her terrible nature remained. One time, a neighbor came to tell me that my aunt was arguing with some other women who were also buying and selling scrap metal, probably fighting over something. I rushed to the scene and everything seemed to have been resolved. I only saw Aunt Luong limping along the side of the road with her chain broken. I shook my head in regret and frustration:

- Auntie, don't go collecting scrap metal tomorrow. Uncle Long and Uncle Hung's money is enough for the two of us.

Aunt Luong said nothing, her face frowned in pain.

Many times my friends asked me about my aunt but I avoided answering. Even my best friend Han did not know what my aunt did for a living. One time I could not avoid her question so I lied:

- My aunt sells goods in town. But things haven't been going well lately, so she's probably going to quit soon. I heard she's saved quite a bit of money.

One day, Aunt Luong came home from somewhere and called everywhere. I vaguely heard her say she had been cheated out of money. After dozens of calls, she sat there, her face haggard, two lines of tears running down her cheeks. When I asked her, she replied:

- It's all gone, my child. All the money I saved for us was taken away by them. How stupid I was to believe them...

It turned out that Aunt Luong listened to the enticement of an acquaintance and invested all her money in a piece of land in town. Now she discovered that she had been scammed.

After that day, my aunt was absent more often. She only told me that she went to collect scrap metal in the neighboring communes and could only come home at the end of the day. But one time, a neighbor told me that she went to town to wash dishes for hire, and also did some porterage. Someone even saw her harvesting rice for hire for people in the neighboring commune. Aunt Luong looked thin and aged quickly.

Two years later, I graduated from high school. Just after finishing the university entrance exam, happy because all my close friends got into their dream schools, we received the news that Han had a heart condition and needed urgent surgery. Han's family did not have the means, so the amount of 160 million was too much. When she knew I was sad about this, Aunt Luong suddenly said:

- Tell Han and Han's parents, I have more than one hundred million, I can lend it to the family.

My eyes widened in surprise. And for the first time in my life, I wanted to hug Aunt Luong tightly.

That day, aunt Luong just came home from work, sweat was still pouring down her forehead, I hurriedly said:

- Aunt, Han's parents are coming to our house to talk to you. They should be here soon.

- Let me go change my shirt first. Who would want to meet someone like this? - Aunt Luong looked down at her sweat-soaked, faded shirt.

I grabbed her sleeve, holding her back. Aunt Luong opened her eyes wide and looked at me.

- You sit down and rest, sit in front of the fan to cool off.

Then seeing that she still seemed surprised, I added:

- You can wear it like that, you don't need to change clothes.

Aunt Luong smiled awkwardly. It had been a long time since I had seen her smile like that. It was the first time I had seen her sitting so gently on the chair, her eyes filled with sadness like autumn mist on the lake, but also a gentle and peaceful joy.