In cultural performances, I really enjoy the dance routines. The slender girls in their vibrant costumes make the show much more lively and captivating. But if the singer is announced and stands out on stage, those dancers always fade into the background. Everyone usually focuses on the singer, while I prefer to admire the dancers.
Kieu is a girl who performs very beautiful dances at the tourist resort where I'm in charge of the landscaping. The resort is located on an offshore island and attracts a large number of tourists every day. Every day, a dance group of five performs on a stage by the lake within the landscaped grounds at 10 o'clock. And one of those dancers is Kieu.
When the dance performance began, I would often go to watch, and I noticed the girl with the bright face and long hair. The lake reflected the sunlight and the clouds. The girls danced on one side, while on the other side were chairs for the audience to sit in. Some days there were many customers, some days there were few. Sometimes people applauded, and sometimes the dances ended in silence.
Kieu and I became acquainted from then on. Occasionally, on holidays, we would go out to eat together, or I would take Kieu for leisurely strolls along the streets. I remained focused on admiring the dancer, and our dates were more like those of friends. Kieu's pure beauty and clear, innocent laughter made me feel that a declaration of love would shatter the positive impression she had of me.
Kieu is 22 years old and has spent several years with Huong's dance group, performing wherever she's asked. Kieu's father remarried. Initially, Kieu lived with her mother. But then her mother also found another man. Finally, Kieu rented a room and shared it with some friends. Such a beautiful young woman, with such a tragic background, yet still radiant and innocent. I am 40 years old and divorced once. My wife took our child abroad after marrying a foreigner. I love my wife and child very much. But I had to sign the divorce papers she had prepared because I couldn't give her the life she wanted.
I was moved by Kieu, a strange feeling when I heard her tell her life story. I didn't dare confess my feelings because of the age difference and my own hesitations. And so the days went by. Every day, I was in charge of managing the green area with the swimming pool, and every day I prepared everything so that the dance performance wouldn't be interrupted. Of course, there were rainy days when the dance group couldn't perform, and we would sit at the resort's drinks counter, talking as if we would never stop...
Then Kieu disappeared from the dance group. Huong said Kieu quit to get married. Kieu didn't tell me and didn't invite me to the wedding. Huong told me that Kieu had fallen in love with a handsome phone salesman who often came to the port in his white car to pick her up when the ship from the island docked. On Kieu's 22nd birthday, he threw a lavish party and proposed. I listened to the story and consoled myself, thinking that every choice a girl makes has a reason. In love, sometimes just having feelings for each other doesn't mean you can end up together.
It's been over a year since Kieu got married. Since her wedding, the dance group's performance contract ended. We lost each other in the crowd, until one morning I met her again on my porch. I felt a pang of sadness and bitterness at having nowhere to turn, and she thought of me.
Kieu married a man who was outwardly handsome and appeared wealthy, but inwardly a thug. After getting married, they rented a house in a newly developed residential area. Every day, Kieu ran a small coffee stall for the locals. But her husband was consumed by jealousy, and every night he would beat her as if venting his hatred. Kieu didn't dare tell anyone. Until that evening, after a fit of baseless jealousy, he chased Kieu out of the house like a stranger in the rain. At that moment, Kieu thought of me.
That day, the rain fell incessantly like lullabies, and in the hazy dawn, I heard someone calling my name. I thought it was just a dream, until I opened the door and saw Kieu huddled on the doorstep, her small handbag beside her, as if she had stopped to take shelter from the rain.
Kieu was standing before me. She had been to my small house, gone to the market, and cooked meals there. She had even reproached me for clinging to the past and not finding someone else to rekindle the flame in my kitchen. I had wanted to ask, "Are you okay with that?" but I didn't say it.
After making sure Kieu had rested and eaten, I didn't try to keep her there, and I couldn't possibly. That evening, I saw Kieu off to her mother's house. She whispered to me, "Thank you. Only when I've finalized the divorce proceedings can I return to this place..." She boarded the bus, and the vehicle rolled away in the dazzling lights, taking Kieu further and further into the distance...
Short story: Khue Viet Truong
Source: https://baocantho.com.vn/co-gai-mua-a189972.html
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