Two aunts talk about the life of Mai Thi Thanh and Mai Van Toan.
Leaving the garden of the sisters Mai Thi Thanh, Mai Van Toan and after a meeting with the government of Van Du town (Thach Thanh district, Thanh Hoa), the reporter VTC News Can't help but wonder why they decided to move all their belongings back to their hometown to live after their parents died, but only a short time later they returned to the land of Thach Thanh.
In order to find the answer, we decided to go to Nga Thach commune (Nga Son district, Thanh Hoa) to meet the family members of Mr. Mai Hong Thai.
Welcoming us in the old 3-room house of Mr. and Mrs. Thanh - Thai were Mrs. Mai Thi Tinh and Mrs. Mai Thi Sau - 2 younger sisters of Mr. Thai.
In the middle of the house, there is no longer the plow column that was built by Mr. Thai. Before I could ask, Mrs. Tinh quickly said: "At the beginning of the year, Toan returned to it. All the plowshares he put in 2 envelopes, brought back to Thach Thanh".
The plow column that was built in 2017 was removed from Mr. Mai Hong Thai's house in Nga Thach commune, Nga Son district.
Lighting incense sticks on the altar, stroking the certificate of merit from the Chairman of Thanh Hoa Provincial People's Committee for Mr. Mai Hong Thai who participated in the resistance war against the US to save the country, Ms. Tinh said sadly: "Mr. Thai beat the US to collapse the tunnel and didn't die, but he died because the 'ghost' did it".
Ms. Tinh said, because of early economic work at Thach Thanh Forest Enterprise, Mr. Thai's family had food to eat, and the economy was the most prosperous among the brothers. Mr. Thai and his wife lived a very gentle and good-natured life. Everyone who had difficulties helped them, so they were loved by everyone. Every few months, the whole family goes back to their hometown to visit their elderly parents and brothers.
"This house was also bought by him while he was working on Thach Thanh with the desire to serve as a retirement home for old age. When they retired, they said they would stay there for a few more years, wait for the three of them to work at Lam Son sugar factory and then return to their hometown. But things don't go as planned“, Mrs. Tinh said.
In the early 2000s, Mrs. Thanh "got sick", forced all three children to drop out of school, shaved their heads and asked them to do strange things. Mrs. Tinh said she was very sorry, especially Mai Thi Thanh, who was in 3th grade at that time, and was at the top of the school.
"At first, Mr. Thai ran around looking for ways to cure his wife's illness. But then he gradually followed her orders. Since then, he has also rarely returned to his hometown, only returning once every 3-4 months to get his pension“. Mrs. Tinh suppressed a sigh and then continued, when her parents died, the family informed her, but Mr. Thai did not come back to mourn even though he was a person who loved his parents very much.
The family, the government of Thanh Van commune, later Van Du town, all advised against, but the family of Mrs. Thanh - Mr. Thai still maintained a strange life for decades, until Mrs. Thanh passed away at the end of 2021.
"When she died, our situation was also difficult, so all expenses were supported by Van Du town. After the funeral, he also set up an altar at home but Toan took the incense bowl and smashed it and told him not to worship at all“, she said.
After Mrs. Thanh died a few months, Mrs. Tinh suddenly heard that Thai's father and son wanted to go back to Nga Son to live. The whole family was happy, intending to go to Thach Thanh to help bring their belongings back, but Toan did not agree.
According to Ms. Tinh, the brothers in the house as well as the neighbors were all alarmed when Mr. Thai's father and son returned with two trucks with dozens of tons of iron, steel, corrugated iron, porcelain bowls, etc., piled up in big piles in the garden.
Ms. Tinh said that although he returned to his hometown to live, Mr. Thai's father and son kept their usual routine, dressed strangely and did not receive any furniture or help from relatives. "I brought new clothes and told them to change their clothes, after coming here, they have to follow the lifestyle here, then she applied to work at the company but he refused.".
Not long after returning home, Mr. Thai fell ill with symptoms of abdominal distension. Many times Mrs. Tinh wanted to take her brother to the hospital, but Toan forbade them.
"He's very stubborn, just keep saying that leaving his father there will heal on his own. At that time, I went to his house every day to see how he was eating, how his health was. But after a few days, due to a matter on my grandfather's side, I was informed by Ms. Dung (Mrs. Le Thi Dung - Head of Quarter 1, Van Du town) that Toan's sisters and brothers brought his father back to Thach Thanh. More than a week later, I received the news that Mr. Thai had died“, Mrs. Tinh said.
After Mr. Thai's funeral, Toan's sisters also rented a car to move all their belongings back to Thach Thanh. "I asked him already here, why are you still going up there, Toan told his mother in a dream that he should not stay here anymore, he cannot live here, he must go to the mountains.“. Ms. Tinh said she was once again unable to advise her two grandchildren.
We wondered, when visiting Thanh and Toan's sisters, we did not see the presence of tens of tons of furniture as told, but only a few coils of steel in the kitchen.
Explaining this, Ms. Mai Thi Sau said that at the beginning of February, she went to Thach Thanh and learned that all the porcelain bowls had been buried in the ground by the two sisters, while the iron and steel in the house was built with green corrugated iron sheets.
Sau said, the day she went to play, she also coaxed Thanh and Toan to go back to their hometown, relatives would help remodel the house so that the two sisters could get married, but did not get consent.
"In the past, I used to say to Mr. Thai and Ms. Thanh that "brothers and sisters, please come back here, let the children get married soon, or get married, lest when you die they will be lonely in the forest", just like that they are really helpless now. My sisters and I are both old and weak, the day of returning to our ancestors is not far away, before closing our eyes, we just hope that our two grandchildren Thanh and Toan will return to their hometown to live near their relatives.", Mrs. Sau choked.
Reply to reporter VTC NewsMr. Mai Van Nam - Chairman of the People's Committee of Nga Thach commune (Nghia Son district) - said that in the past, when Mr. Mai Hong Thai and Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh were still alive, the leader of Van Du town (Thach Thanh district) contacted the leader of Nga Thach commune to coordinate propaganda, advocacy and planning for medical examination and treatment, but the family did not cooperate, the reaction was very harsh.
In early 2022, after Mrs. Thanh died and was buried locally, Mr. Thai's father and son also returned to their hometown to live. The local government has raised funds and donated necessities and furniture, but Mr. Thai did not accept it.
"Talking about living here, but the family is still separate from society. Two children have worked at the chili factory but do not communicate with people. After 2-3 months, they returned to Thach Thanh, then Mr. Thai died“, said Mr. Nam.
According to Mr. Nam, currently Ms. Mai Thi Thanh and Mr. Mai Van Toan have permanent residence in Nga Thach commune. If according to regulations, the People's Committee of Van Du town has the right to expel the two sisters from the locality because they do not have a household registration certificate and do not register for temporary residence. However, the government is still handling it in a humane way, mainly through propaganda, not coercion.
"If they make a move to destabilize the local security situation and disrupt order, they will only coerce, but people will live normally, and it's not good to coerce. But in the near future, the two localities will work together to get a reasonable solution to help Mr. Toan and Ms. Thanh integrate into the community.", Chairman of Nga Thach commune said.
Welcome to part 5: Unraveling the mystery of the family of 'yin soldiers'
TS.BS Tran Thi Hong Thu acknowledged that the expression of members of the "yin soldier" family is highly likely to have mental problems, but to make an accurate conclusion, an assessment must be carried out.
