In the hot summer weather of the last days of April 4, with the desire to answer questions from readers, reporters of electronic newspapers VTC News return to Thach Thanh district to learn about the current life of the family known locally as "yin soldiers".
The main entrance to Mrs. Thanh's house. (Photo taken in 2017).
According to the flow of time, from a poor mountainous district, Thach Thanh changed skin, most of the roads and alleys have been paved and concreted... Thanh Van Commune - the residence of his grandparents' family Nguyen Thi Thanh - Mai Hong Thai, now also merged into Van Du town.
After 3 hours of traveling by bus, we were at the headquarters of the People's Committee of Van Du town. Next to us was Mr. Le Van Dung - Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Van Du town (former Chairman of the People's Committee of Thanh Van commune).
Mr. Dung is one of the active members in the campaign to mobilize the family of Mrs. Thanh - Mr. Thai to integrate into the community but failed. "Their family's life has also changed a lot now, Mrs. Thanh and Mr. Thai are both dead", Mr. Le Van Dung said sadly.
Mr. Dung drank a cup of tea and then said, after a while when the public was stirred up with articles about the "yin soldier" family, Mrs. Thanh and her husband and children still lived in total isolation from the outside world. Only Mr. Thai rides a bicycle to Nga Thach commune (Nga Son) once a month to get the couple's pension, while Thanh's mother and daughter hardly leave the house.
Mr. Dung said that the family's reclusive life, away from the "earthly" world, seemed to end when in 2022, Mrs. Thanh suddenly passed away. "When Mrs. Thanh died, relatives took her to her hometown in Nga Son for burial. After that, relatives also excavated the mysterious garden and dug up tens of tons of iron and steel".
The entire garden has been cleaned up, all iron and steel are transported back to the countryside. Mr. Thai and his two children, Mai Thi Thanh and Mai Van Toan, also left the garden to return to their hometown of Nga Son to live. Many people have hoped that from this moment the remaining members of Mrs. Thanh's family will return to normal life.
Mrs. Thanh's house in 2017.
According to Mr. Dung, when they returned to their hometown, two sisters Thanh and Toan lived like normal people. Even people have considered looking for a job so that the two sisters can work as workers. However, the glimmer of hope was extinguished. After being in the countryside for a short time, the two sisters missed their "weird house" and returned quietly.
"Mr. Thai after returning home fell seriously ill and was also brought back to Thach Thanh by Toan's sisters. By the end of 2022, Mr. Thai died and was also buried by relatives", said Dung.
After both Mrs. Thanh and Mr. Thai died, many people were worried about the two sisters Thanh and Toan because although their parents chose to live an eccentric way of life, their grandparents were still the support for the two sisters. "We also advised the two children to return to Nga Son, have a house, live with relatives but refused, still living on that land," Dung said.
Mr. Dung said that on the old land, in addition to rebuilding the house, Thanh and Toan's sisters grew corn, planted peanuts and raised chickens. The attitude is not too extreme, weird as before, but they do not accept the help of others.
"Let me take you inside to see what life is like for you two now". Faced with our shy attitude, Mr. Dung added: "Don't worry, it's a different time, as long as you don't introduce reporters or journalists".
I followed Mr. Dung, but I couldn't help but shudder when I remembered the shout: "Stop!” by Mai Thi Thanh in the first encounter, nearly 6 years ago, in front of that mysterious house.
The journey to approach the family living like a "mad" in Thanh Hoa. (Video recorded in 2017).
Starting from 2017, the strange life of Mrs. Nguyen Thi Thanh's family (in Thanh Van commune, Thach Thanh, Thanh Hoa) suddenly received special attention from public opinion after rumors lilac color.
Thanh's family is a strange family because she and her husband, Mr. Mai Hong Thai and 3 children have a life that is almost completely disconnected from the local community. They have turned their house, their land into a wild, mysterious oasis. The people in the family are almost non-existent, but the people outside are also absolutely not.
The hermit and lonely life of Mrs. Thanh's family lasted for decades. During those decades, many thrilling rumors made the lives of members of Mrs. Thanh's family full of ghostly colors.
In Thanh Van commune, Ms. Nguyen Thi Dung - Secretary of Thanh Van Forest Protection Station and her husband Mr. Pham Van Ho - Director of Thach Thanh Protection Forest Management Board, who used to be very close to her family. Wall.
Mrs. Dung's house is a few hundred meters from Mrs. Thanh's house. Talking about Mrs. Thanh's family, like many others, Ms. Dung said, she also could not explain the strange things that happened to the neighbour's family.
According to Ms. Dung, in the past, Ms. Thanh was one of the elite members of the forestry enterprise, having won the title of Emulation Fighter. Agile, resourceful, and know how to cultivate business, Mrs. Thanh's family is among the wealthiest in the region. The children study well, are obedient and famous.
Unbelievably strange things have happened to Mrs. Thanh's family since 2001. Mrs. Dung clearly remembers that day, while at home, Mrs. Thanh came to her. Sitting in the middle of the house, Mrs. Thanh said seriously, as if announcing an important matter: "Aunt Dung! Here I have to do holy work. I made an appointment with my aunt until 2010, when I finish my holy work, I will let her be the first person to meet. Uncle and aunt just try to help the poor, then you will be blessed.". After announcing, Mrs. Thanh got up and left.
Seeing the appearance and voice of such a superior, Mrs. Dung simply thought that Mrs. Thanh wanted to learn to be a medium teacher. Then Mrs. Thanh called to sell the herd of buffaloes and got a total of 13 million dong. Having obtained a large amount of money, Ms. Thanh went around the commune to buy tens of thousands of bowls and thousands of plowshares.
Mrs. Dung saw Mrs. Thanh's whole family using a bicycle to carry large bowls of bowls and piles of plowshares home. "In the area, how many bowls and plowshares Thanh bought clean. Estimate how many car trips', Mrs. Dung recalled.
At this time, Mrs. Dung was surprised, thinking that Ms. Thanh sold cattle and buffaloes to change her profession of trading bowls and plowshares. But here the population is not crowded, what are those two items that can be sold in such a large quantity. Mrs. Dung expressed her heart when she saw strange things, but Mrs. Thanh still with a "high and high" voice replied: "I'm doing "holy work", don't ask too many questions. Tell your aunt, you've lost your destiny".
According to Ms. Dung, the bowl was buried in the garden by Mrs. Thanh, while the plowshare was partly buried, partly tied to a straight tree and then erected like a flagpole in front of the house.
Seeing this strange work, Mrs. Dung tried every way to dissuade but could not. In the end, Mrs. Dung had to go and inform all agents and grocery stores in the area that no one could sell bowls and plowshares to Ms. Thanh anymore.
Unable to buy bowls and plowshares, Ms. Thanh switched to buying broken tires and a lot of iron. When the tires were bought, Mrs. Thanh and her husband and children burned them, taking the steel wires in the tires to wrap them into rolls like giant spools of thread. The number of rebars, mainly of the 6 mm (6 mm) type, are interspersed in the garden.
Seeing the strange things, people in the village and in the commune flocked to see a lot of people. However, members of Mrs. Thanh's family chased away and fenced the garden and gate. Commune officials and forestry officials came to inquire and dissuade but were chased away.
Not only that, Mrs. Thanh also dismantled the big house to get materials to build many strange shaped huts in the garden. There is a hut that is only waist-low, large and ramshackle. To enter it, there is only one way to crawl and crawl.
Excellent communication with neighbors, Mrs. Thanh's family is also excellent with all products of the civilized world. Her house no longer uses electricity, no longer uses clean water. Everything from food to clothing is mostly self-sufficient. Many people in the neighborhood said that Mrs. Thanh wanted to bring her whole family back to the stone age and called it a "mad" family.
Thanh's strange actions make many people difficult to understand. And, this is the same thing that has made many people not dare to go near Mrs. Thanh's house. People are afraid of the "mysterious power" of the woman and her family hidden in that "ghost garden".
Many people in Thanh Van commune told us about this fear. Accordingly, many people are afraid that if they go near the house, they will be "tamed" by Mrs. Thanh and then have to listen to her orders like her husband and children.
Ms. Dung said that when Ms. Thanh first showed her testimony, Mr. Thai also ran around asking close people to advise his wife. However, after a while, he was completely commanded by his wife. Not only did he not object, Mr. Thai also actively helped his wife do things like no other.
Thanh's three children, Mai Thi Thanh (born in 1980) are in grade 11, the second son Mai Van Tam (born in 1982) is in grade 8, the youngest son Mai Van Toan (born in 1985) is in grade 6. They are all well-behaved and well-behaved students. However, after a while, all three children simultaneously dropped out of school to work with their mother in strange and confusing jobs.
Ms. Dung said, helpless with the strange deeds of Mrs. Thanh's family, Ms. Dung invited her relatives in the Thanh's family in Nga Son district to find a solution. That time, Mr. Thai's father and Mrs. Thanh's younger brother had swam up.
At that time, everyone agreed that the next morning, Mrs. Thanh's family would return to her hometown, hoping to get rid of the "mysterious house" in the hope that all members would return to normal life.
However, the next morning, when there was no movement in Mrs. Thanh's house, Mrs. Dung and her husband rushed to find out. "When we got there, we were shocked to see that Thai's father and Thanh's brother were helping her do strange things. Mr. Thai's father again said that I find my son very good here, not having to go back to his hometown', Mrs. Dung recalled.
"But the strangest thing was that the second child died, but they didn't know it. Neighbors did not see the boy Tam, asked him to say he was sleeping. It wasn't until there was a stench coming from the house that people knew that he was dead. Yet every day, mother and daughter still lie in bed hugging each other', Mrs. Dung shivered.
After being discovered, neighbors encouraged relatives to visit, but this family did not allow them to visit. They told me not to disturb because their baby was sleeping. When the authorities came to work, they buried the child's body right behind the wall.
(There's more)
