The dwarf apricot tree and five lottery tickets

The last day of the year. Worried, busy faces, satisfied, excited smiles. The flower market is still full of pots of yellow chrysanthemums, a few apricot trees with sparse, drooping flowers. Now, by the afternoon of the thirtieth, if they haven't sold everything, it's considered a waste, the owner has to go home to take care of the banh tet pot and the ancestral altar.

Old Bay bought lottery tickets and wandered around the flower market after noon. In the morning, he had chosen a small bonsai mai tree with blooming flowers, priced at two hundred thousand. After three days of Tet, the mai tree's petals would almost all fall off, but it was within the budget of a poor man like him.

The old man was still hanging around here because he wanted to wait for the price of apricot blossoms to drop to the floor, so he could buy another small grapevine to give to Mrs. Muoi Ha, who lived at the foot of Go Chen Bridge. That kind old woman had just received a Tet gift bag from the Women's Union, but still didn't have money to buy a branch of apricot blossoms to display on Tet. Old Bay felt compassion and decided to buy his old friend a mai tree. Mrs. Muoi was always good to him, every time she passed by his house selling lottery tickets on a sunny day, she would invite him in to have a glass of iced tea.

Seeing old man Muoi go around the skinny apricot tree dozens of times, the owner of the warehouse urged.

- If you buy it, I will sell it to you cheap, then you can go home and prepare for Tet!

He still clasped his hands behind his back, looking at the apricot tree. He was in no hurry, his wife and youngest son had already taken care of the Tet preparations at home. He would slowly sell all the tickets and then go home.

- How much is this tree?

Finally, the "toad opened its mouth".

- Okay, give me fifty. This tree is small but has a very beautiful shape. I usually sell it for two hundred and fifty!

Old Bay opened his hand and counted. There were exactly five lottery tickets left, so he handed them to the store owner.

- Can I change these five tickets? They are so unsaleable at this hour!

The owner threw his cigarette butt into the canal and reached out to take the tickets. Okay, let's exchange them! If you win the jackpot, remember to call me.

Mrs. Muoi was busy preparing some Tet gifts. Rice, instant noodles, soy sauce, MSG, and candy were all over the place. Receiving the small apricot tree from Mr. Bay, she was confused.

- Thanks, Mr. Bay. Wishing you a prosperous new year!

- Oh my! Tomorrow is the first day of the month, grandma! Why are you wishing so early?

Mrs. Muoi smiled toothlessly:

- I'll just wish you well in advance! What if you don't come by tomorrow?

Mrs. Muoi was not yet sixty, but she had lost all her teeth. In the past, she had been quite pretty and good at farming. But since her husband got old, became sick all the time, and went to sell salt, leaving her with a young, innocent daughter, her life went downhill. She worked for hire all year round, and only had enough money for food and medicine for the two of them.

The daughter, every now and then, would roll around in the middle of the house, her limbs twitching, her mouth foaming. She was eighteen years old but still dropped her rice bowl and broke it. Mrs. Muoi’s family was considered “permanently” poor in the hamlet, so they often received relief goods. Old Bay once followed some men from the parish to visit her and her daughter, so he knew about their situation. From then on, they became acquainted, he went to the house to sell lottery tickets, and was often invited to drink.

Old Bay did not know how to ride a motorbike. Wherever he went, his old bicycle creaked, and it groaned along the way as if it pitied the owner, whose limping leg had been there since he was a soldier fighting against Pol Pot in the southwestern border.

When he was being treated at the front-line infirmary, when the order to demobilize came, he was so happy that he quickly grabbed his backpack and walked twenty kilometers to the border gate, took a bus back to Tay Ninh , and forgot to get his medical records. So until now, even though the enemy shrapnel is still in his calf, he has not been recognized as a wounded soldier.

Pitying his wife and two children who work hard in the fields and raising cows, he chose to sell lottery tickets. Perhaps people sympathized with his disability and liked his smooth talk about all sorts of things, so they bought tickets to support him.

Diligent, enduring the rain and sun, he sold more than two hundred tickets every day. Enough money to support his wife and children at the market. One day, he felt inspired and cycled from Cam Giang across Ben Dinh Bridge to sell tickets at Ben Cau. In Dang's shop, there was an old couple sitting drinking coffee. Seeing him limping, they called him over, bought a pair of tickets, and asked:

- Do you have soldiers?

- Yes, almost three years, I was injured and then returned.

- This old bike is so bad. Get another one!

Old Bay smiled wryly. Not enough to eat, let alone a car.

The wife had a square face like a man, strong and sturdy, looked at old Bay with pity.

- How about this! Would you mind coming to our house? I have a gift for you.

Seeing the worried and cautious look of old man Bay, the husband smiled gently.

- Don't be afraid! My husband and I were soldiers, we're not lying to you.

It turned out that their house was about three hundred meters from the coffee shop. The wife told her husband to chop a coconut for Mr. Bay, while she went inside and brought out a brand new silver-white bicycle.

- My old man wanted to buy this bike to ride in the morning, but unexpectedly he had an accident and has been abandoned for a year. The bike cost two and a half million and was covered with a blanket. Now I give it to you so you can use it to get to work. Get rid of that crappy bike!

Old Bay thought he was dreaming, he stammered and pointed at the old bicycle.

- What...what...it?

The wife pressed the phone, a moment later a middle-aged woman came on a motorbike.

- Where is the car, Ms. Nam?

- There! See how much you can get and buy it for me.

- Really, Ms. Nam, I bought this car for only one hundred thousand.

- Okay, uncle?

Old Bay hesitantly nodded.

Since receiving the new bike, Mr. Bay has expanded his lottery ticket sales area. The Martin bike is a bit high but pedaling is light. Sometimes when he is happy, he cycles all the way to Chau Thanh, even to Suoi Da. Remembering his benefactor, once a week or fortnight he goes to Ben Cau to visit Ms. Nam and her husband, giving them some ripe red gac fruits or a bag of lemons from his garden.

- Don't give it away! My wife and I both have pensions. Try to work hard to help your wife and children.

Busy in the last days of the year, preparing for Tet, but people do not want to spend much time having fun. On the first day of Tet, all activities still take place as usual, coffee shops, breakfast shops are crowded with customers. Old Bay sits at home, finishing the offering tray for his ancestors, fidgeting and impatient.

People in the same profession were seen running around everywhere, holding tickets in their hands, from parks to restaurants and drinking places. But strangely, why didn't the drinkers sit at home to enjoy Tet, but instead went to the restaurants? Maybe it was more fun to gather at the restaurants, to create the Tet atmosphere. When they were drunk, they called for lottery tickets, wishing for good luck in the spring.

That was why lottery tickets were constantly sold out. Old Bay's bicycle had been parked in the yard since early morning, but it just sat there. Old Bay asked a fortune teller to check the date, and seeing that the second day was the right time to leave, he reluctantly waited. So early in the morning of the second day, he quickly wiped his face and hurriedly went to get the lottery tickets. As soon as he stepped out of the agency, he was stopped.

- Which station is broadcasting today?

- Yes! Tien Giang station; Tay Ninh station; Khanh Hoa station… buy it, Aunt Hai.

The old woman chose ten tickets 32. Again 32 - snake. The snake went, the turtle stayed. On the 30th day of Tet, Tien Giang TV also had the eighth prize number 32. The old man turned his bicycle into the alley with Dang coffee shop, his feet skipping like a child. The shaman was really good, his age was compatible with the 2nd day.

The sound of loud chatter and laughter echoed from inside the coffee shop.

- I just went to wish my grandparents a happy new year on the first afternoon. I just got to visit my grandparents today.

- Ha ha ha! This guy loves foreign goods...

- Yesterday, that "stupid" Tuan spent ten million on a dice game. His wife cried like a funeral.

- Oh my gosh, spring is just for fun, being angry means death!

It seemed that the owner of the orchard from the other day was also sitting among the crowd. He was also surprised to see Old Bay.

- Hey! Lottery ticket! Lottery ticket! Can I exchange it for a winning ticket?

Old Bay happily walked in.

- Happy New Year! Good luck! Where did you win the ticket, bro?

- I'm still waiting for you to exchange the 32 tickets for Tet.

Oh! With five hundred thousand, he can easily pay. The owner of the garden is lucky. The apricot tree sold for fifty thousand, now it has bloomed ten times more.

- Is the apricot tree still alive that day?

- Live! I told Mrs. Muoi to water it every day.

- What about Mrs. Muoi, dad?

- The old lady at the foot of Go Chen bridge! She and her mother are so poor, so I bought it for her.

The owner of the warehouse opened his eyes wide in surprise. He received five hundred thousand from Mr. Bay, then bought ten more lottery tickets, put the two hundred thousand bill in his wallet, and gave the other one to Mr. Bay.

- I'll send you two hundred thousand lucky money for Mrs. Muoi and her children.

- Huh! You know her too?

- Who knows! I heard you said she was poor, so I'll donate a little.

The crowd at the cafe saw what was strange and rushed to buy lottery tickets. Each person bought a few tickets, and the stack was gone in no time. Old Bay planned to go back to the agent to get two hundred more tickets. Today was a good day, so he would probably sell them. Then he came to wish Mrs. Muoi and her children a happy new year and give them lucky money.

The small, dilapidated tin-roofed house was closed, Mrs. Muoi and her children were not home. On the moldy wooden table on the porch, the stunted apricot tree had been put in a pot, blooming a few tiny yellow flowers. Old Bay felt happy and elated. At least his gift was meaningful to a poor person. The neighbor called him in to buy a pair of lottery tickets.

- Mrs. Muoi took her daughter to the hospital! Last night she had a stomachache. She must have eaten too much candy! Poor girl! I'm waiting for someone to pass by the district hospital, so I can send her and her child some food.

Old Bay hurriedly turned the car around.

- Where's the rice? I'll bring it to you on the way to sell tickets.

From here to the district hospital is nearly ten kilometers. He cycled less than an hour. It was really miserable. If he was miserable, there were people who were even more miserable. Tomorrow he would sell lottery tickets near the temple, go to the abbot, ask for a bag of rice, and bring it back to Mrs. Muoi. Now bring two hundred thousand to the hospital, so that the mother and child have money to buy food.

PPQ

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