Grandma's mill

I woke up, went out to the porch and looked vaguely at the winding dirt road still immersed in the space filled with the smell of wild grass. Thinking of Aunt Ut's promise to take me to the village market in a few days, I excitedly ran around the yard chasing the chickens that were coming into the kitchen to dig up the ashes. On the porch, Aunt Ut had also woken up a while ago, stood up to tie her hair up neatly, then quickly took a broom and went out to the yard to sweep the leaves. On the branches of the dodder tree, the sound of the larks was still chirping, their chirping was released into the blue sky, clearly heard, mixed with the sound of the broom sweeping Aunt Ut to the backyard. "Na! Where is the mortar that Grandma left here?" - while she was busy sweeping the leaves, she looked up and asked. "How would I know!" - I was bewildered.

That was a big stone mortar. My grandmother used to put it on the porch, I heard it had been there since my great-grandmother's time. On the cool laterite-paved yard, my grandmother placed the mortar next to a row of jars containing rainwater. My grandmother had a habit of soaking rice to make banh xeo whenever her children came home from far away. She soaked the rice overnight, put it in the mortar in the morning, and by noon, she had a pot of flour.

“Someone must have asked for it, grandma gave it away, honestly, why do you keep it making the house crowded!” - Aunt Ut mumbled, went into the kitchen to get a hat and put it on her head to go to the field, not forgetting to turn back to tell me to remember to dry the rice in the yard when the sun comes up.

I ran over to my friend's house to play until the sun rose above the bamboo bushes, then suddenly remembered to run home to dry the rice. Just then, my grandmother also came home, carrying a heavy basket. I ran into the kitchen to bring out tea for my grandmother. Outside, my grandmother busily prepared things, then picked up a package of flour and handed it to me: "Put it in the cupboard, I'll make pancakes for you to eat one day!". Holding the package of flour, I suddenly remembered the mortar in the backyard, I asked: "Did grandma give away the mortar in our house?". My grandmother was bending over in the kitchen, quickly turned back: "Huh? Didn't she give it to anyone?". "But I can't see the mortar anymore, grandma go look in the back!"

My grandmother hurried to where the stone mortar was. It was empty.

“What’s wrong?” - Grandma looked at me. “I didn’t know, my youngest aunt was sweeping the yard this morning and just then she disappeared.” My grandma silently went into the house, just as my aunt came back from the field, she heard me tell her story and said in a panic: “Didn’t mom give it to someone?”. Grandma looked out into the yard, bewildered.

The meal was served, my grandmother ate half a bowl and then put her chopsticks down on the tray, my aunt and uncle saw that and couldn't eat anymore. My grandmother's eyes were wide open, looking out to the field. "The day my mother came to be my daughter-in-law, the mill was already there..." - my grandmother whispered, from the story of being pregnant with my father until the ninth month, she was still grinding flour, to the story of her giving birth to my youngest sister next to the mill, telling one story after another, my grandmother started to sniffle: "When your father was still alive, every rainy season, he asked your mother to soak rice. No one liked to eat banh xeo better than your father, and banh xeo was made of shrimp and chives picked from a broken jar, not shrimp and meat like now." Then my grandmother cried, pulling out all the memories, wiping her tears as she told. My uncle quickly reassured her: "Don't cry, Mom, let your brothers and sisters find it!"

My aunt and uncle went around the village looking for the mortar for my grandfather but couldn't find it. How strange.

* * *

“In this day and age, who would sit and grind rice flour anymore, Mom?” - Aunt Ut once said when she saw Grandma hunched over the mortar - “Just let me go to the grocery store at the beginning of the market and buy a package of banh xeo flour, why sit and grind it so hard!”. “But banh xeo flour lacks the taste of home-grown rice,” Grandma said calmly. “If you like, just soak the rice and then I’ll take it to the store to grind, so you don’t have to work hard from morning to noon.”

So, not long after, my grandmother’s mill became an unnecessary item in the house. The day my uncle returned from the city, before he could finish his glass of water, my aunt urged: “Roll the mill out to the back porch for me, so I can sit on the wide porch and chop bananas.” My uncle and two others worked together for a while before they could roll the mill. Everyone shook their hands and laughed. It was done. Very easy.

The mill was also forgotten. At noon, I often went to the backyard, listening to the doves chirping on the high haystack, waiting for my friends to come over to play. I absentmindedly looked at the mill, seeing the stone color gradually fading, breaking out in a cold sweat. One time, my aunt was holding a broom and sweeping the backyard, absentmindedly saying: "Who asked for the mill, why do you keep it so crowded?". "Nonsense!" - my grandmother heard and immediately rolled her eyes - "That's the only memento left of your grandmother, how can you give it away!". All that day, my grandmother still grumbled and complained about my youngest aunt wanting to give away the mill.

Grandma was still upset about her, when it was time for dinner, my uncle reminded me: "I'm planning to expand the house to the back to make it cooler, so that my grandchildren can have a place to sleep when they come home, Mom!". "Okay" - Grandma mumbled. "This summer, I'll do it right away. Mom, let's get rid of all the other things in the backyard." Grandma remained silent and finished her bowl of rice. Seeing that, my uncle took the opportunity: "And the mortar too, let's see who asks Mom for it!". Grandma immediately put the bowl down on the tray: "No need to expand or renovate anything, just stay like this!" - Grandma said, then stood up and went out to the porch, her eyes filled with tears.

Early in the morning, the neighbor Mrs. Nhu quickly lifted the fence and passed by. Seeing my grandmother bending over to prune the bean beds, she also crouched down and took a rake to dig the soil, whispering as she worked: "Sister Four, my son Hien in the city just finished building a house, preparing for a housewarming party." "What a good boy, he just graduated from school a few years ago!" - my grandmother praised. "The other day he came back and told me to go to the city to live with him and his wife, what do you think?" - Mrs. Nhu asked. "Well, rich is the youngest son and poor is also the youngest son, you have to live with him!" - my grandmother said ambiguously. Then, Mrs. Nhu threw away the rake, approached my grandmother and said: "When Hien came back, he looked over and saw the mill in the backyard of your house. He liked it very much. The house has a garden, he said it would be great to leave the mill there. He told me to ask you to leave it, he sent you a little to chew betel." Grandma wiped her sweat and looked at Mrs. Nhu: “You said it well! The mortar that Grandma left behind is no longer used, but I left it there for my children and grandchildren to remember!” - saying this, Grandma’s voice dropped - “I remember when I first got married, I was scared when I saw the mortar. On the 30th day of the month, Grandma and I would grind the mortar, day and night. Grandma had a banh xeo shop by the river, crowded with customers all year round, my mother and I worked hard, but thanks to that, the family had income coming in and out!”. Grandma Nhu forced a smile: “Yes, then I will tell you again so that Hien will know”. Saying that, Mrs. Nhu found an excuse to stand up, lifted the fence and went home.

On this side, my grandmother also stopped, groped her way to the back porch to set up a rake, came to the mill and sat down, feeling around for a long time. Then she turned around and saw me standing there, she waved me over: "When you grow up and get married, I'll give you this mill as a dowry." I laughed out loud.

So grandma's mill stayed there until it disappeared.

***

The story of my grandfather's mill was eventually forgotten, and perhaps even my grandfather did not remember. The elderly forget and remember. My aunt and uncle felt relieved when they saw this. My uncle returned to the countryside more often these days, and he called a worker to come and measure the house to prepare for renovation. "It's fine for you to stay as you are, why bother with renovations?" - my grandmother slowly chewed betel.

On the day, the craftsmen prepared everything.

That night, my grandmother slept through the night and did not wake up the next morning. The first person to discover her was Aunt Ut. Hearing her scream, everyone ran in. My grandmother's hands had already turned cold. My grandmother walked through the night with a relaxed and peaceful face. After taking care of my grandmother's rest, the house repairs were put aside, all that was left was to fix the fence.

My uncle invited workers to measure and repair the fence. The workers had not finished digging when they had to stop because their hoes hit something hard. A tunnel lid appeared. “The tunnel was left over from the war, let’s destroy it!” - my uncle said. The workers heard that and immediately demolished the tunnel mouth. When they finished, the sun was already at noon. Suddenly, a worker shouted loudly: “What’s in the tunnel?” - he used his hoe to lift it up - “Oh, it’s a mill!”. Everyone gathered around. My aunt and uncle were also surprised when the mill was exposed to the sunlight. Under the mill were four rollers for easy movement, next to an iron bucket, inside was a lime pot, a pocket knife, a cast iron pot, some earthen bowls… The surroundings were as quiet as a sheet of paper, I saw the worry on my uncle’s face, her eyes were brimming with tears. After rummaging for a while, my aunt opened the package, inside was a hair tie, a black velvet hat strap. “This is for grandma, Ba!” - Aunt Ut whispered. Without telling each other, the workers retreated to the corner of the garden to drink water, perhaps they wanted to give their family some privacy at this moment. That very day, my grandmother's mill was rolled to the front porch, where my great-grandmother and grandmother used to sit and grind flour.

Night. My uncles and aunts gathered outside the porch to chat, each reminiscing about memories from my great-grandmother's time. Aunt Ut quietly went into the kitchen to measure rice to soak. Seeing me following behind, she turned back with tears in her eyes: "Tomorrow I will grind flour to make banh xeo..."

Short story: VU NGOC GIAO

Source: https://baocantho.com.vn/cai-coi-xay-cua-noi-a192946.html