The road to Tuc Tranh

It was early autumn now. A gentle breeze caressed his skin. The car stopped at a rest stop. In about an hour, he would reach the city center. Never before had a business trip left him feeling so uncertain. When Đoàn asked him to implement the project, he hesitated, half nodding, half wanting to shake his head. He had traveled extensively to teach, support, and develop procedures as the digital age permeated the entire country. From offices to businesses, the digitalization story was like a whirlwind, sweeping everything into chaos. His company received many orders simultaneously. About five years ago, digital transformation was still just small-scale experiments. Gradually, people realized the convenience it offered, leading to a more thorough and comprehensive change than ever before.

Illustration: Duong Van Chung

The bus continued along the highway, heading towards Thai Nguyen . He tried to doze off to relieve his fatigue, but couldn't fall asleep. Ten years had passed since he last visited her hometown. Would there be a reunion?

***

He met her around his second year of university. Back then, in the suburban boarding houses of Saigon, the roads were still red dirt, and every rainy season they would flood with mud, the streetlights dim and yellow. Even so, the rent was cheap, so for the students from the provinces, every penny saved was a penny earned. The row of male rooms was separated from the row of female rooms by only a small road lined with pristine white laurel trees. On some nights, the scent of laurel wafted into the room, filling it with fragrance.

That time, the small alley leading to the boarding house was flooded. She had just finished her last tutoring session and was returning home. Her motorbike was fine on the main road, but when it got wet in the alley, the spark plug got in, causing it to stall. Around ten o'clock at night, she was frantically pushing the motorbike when she suddenly heard a vehicle stop. Startled, she saw two young men from the men's boarding house. Apparently recognizing her from the women's side, one of them, tall and thin, got off the motorbike to help. That was him. The one driving, speaking softly and taking her back to her room, was Doan. That night, he even fixed the spark plug for her, carefully started the engine, and then returned the motorbike to her.

So, a few days later, Đoàn poked his head over to the women's dormitory, looking for her, saying someone had fallen ill from lovesickness after that rainstorm. The whole row of women started clamoring for a date, trying to set them up. More than a week later, a strange number sent a text message. The messages drifted through the nights she spent huddled under the covers, giggling to herself. More than a month later, she agreed to be his girlfriend. He often told her about his hometown, where the wind lashed against her face, the scorching heat, and the sun that melted away her fat. His hometown was poor. Only sun and wind. Only sand and sea. He didn't want to follow the life of a fisherman. He needed to do something different from his villagers. He chose to move to this warm, green, brightly lit city in the South. He studied and worked part-time, saving every penny so he wouldn't have to beg his parents for money. His father's face was weathered by countless fishing trips. His mother's face aged by the constant waiting. That was the tradition in his village. So many children grew up and tossed their lives around by the fishing nets. But he was different. He chose technology because he knew it was what would lead people toward the future.

Four years of university, plus two more years clinging to this city to nurture her life's dreams. Occasionally, she would think of the lush green hills. She lingered here, waiting for an answer from him. But then a phone call made her think. After a whole week, many nights of deliberation, she told him about her return. A return to the peace she had always longed for. The place where she grew up and left.

On that last night, he drove her to Saigon train station, to catch the North-South train back to her hometown. His eyes were clouded with tears. His voice was choked with emotion. She didn't say goodbye, she left. She didn't promise to wait, so he didn't have to. Encounters in life are merely fleeting moments. If fate allows, people will meet again. When fate ends, they become a part of memories that everyone carries on their life's journey. Everything comes gently and goes peacefully. She was born among the tea hills. Just as he was born from the ocean waves. Everyone has a place to return to. This city, sometimes, is just a stopover.

She boarded the train. He remained standing there. Time waits for no one. Time rushes by like a train. Swiftly. Day passes. Night turns. The train only stops at the final station. But not everyone gets to choose their final station in life. He still kept her message. Even now, as the train enters Thai Nguyen city, he still remembers the tea hills she used to talk about.

***

He began his lecture in a deep, warm, and slow voice. Before he left, the team kept reminding him to adjust his teaching style, avoiding speaking too quickly or using too much technical jargon. The tea-growing and processing businesses here are transitioning from traditional to professional production, and sometimes they are still in their infancy when it comes to digital transformation. Especially the use of AI to support product promotion or business operations is still new to them. He had three days to guide them, but if necessary, he would extend it to ensure everyone fully understood and the system ran smoothly before he could return. This project wasn't about money; it was about supporting the tea-growing community. He had to go, and no one else in the company could adapt better than him.

He started with the basics: applying AI to data retrieval. He guided students through paid software and detailed commands. The class had over a hundred students from farms, businesses, and cooperatives. Some came from Tan Cuong, La Bang, Trai Cai, and Phu Luong – almost all the famous tea-growing regions were present. Instead of standing at a podium, he walked around the students, interacting closely, listening to their questions, answering them attentively, and guiding them on how to access AI software from their phones. He encouraged them with questions so they could use the chatbox proficiently.

AI will replace them in the product promotion process, helping them create images, write articles, develop sales scripts, and even provide them with surveys and evaluations of tea products from other regions and provinces across the country. Or, if necessary, they can create a business plan using AI. All of this takes only a few minutes. He was rambling on when he suddenly stopped, fell silent, and his eyes met those of a woman who was half familiar, half unfamiliar. It was her. The girl he had fixed the spark plug on that rainy night ten years ago. It was her. The girl who wasn't the final stop on his journey.

He stammered as he continued his lecture, but his eyes never left her.

***

She led him back to Tuc Tranh, a lush green hillside. The wind caressed their skin with a crisp coolness. Autumn stretched across the sky in clusters of pure white blossoms. This area used to be a midland tea plantation, only later converting to grafted tea. Her life flowed peacefully along with the mornings filled with the pungent scent of tea. She also independently formed a tea cooperative with many households. Why go far away? Returning to her hometown, close to home, to nurture the tea plants, so that the people of Tuc Tranh could live more prosperous lives than before.

That day, her mother fell seriously ill, bedridden for two years before passing away. She had to go home; she felt her life was wasted wandering in a bustling city. Sometimes the suffocating atmosphere made it hard for her to breathe. She couldn't wait for something so far away. Everyone, at some point in life, stands at a crossroads. If you know which station to choose, then get on the train. She chose to return, not because she didn't love him, but simply because she couldn't leave Tuc Tranh. The scent of tea had permeated her life since she was born. If she walked alongside him during his period of rapid career advancement, perhaps she could slow him down.

Illustration: Duong Van Chung

The afternoon still stretched endlessly over the tea hills. Tuc Tranh appeared before him in reality, no longer the story from a decade ago when she used to tell about a peaceful countryside, lush green hillsides, and villages fragrant with the scent of tea. Over thirty years old, she was still alone, throwing herself into her daily work. The Tuc Tranh tea village had begun to develop in recent years, with many things to worry about. She needed to innovate production technology, marketing methods, and find ways to apply new technologies to various stages to save time and costs. Furthermore, she wanted to create a media channel to promote Tuc Tranh, with a story each day about the tea village, the tea industry, and the beauty of Tuc Tranh. Knowing what she lacked, she registered for the training course as soon as the province announced it to the communes. She just didn't expect to meet him here.

He listened silently, feeling a strange, indescribable stirring within him. He lay down on the small patch of earth beside the rows of plants. The scent of the earth mingled with the scent of the leaves, both warm and intoxicating. For the first time in ten years, he had felt life so light and carefree.

***

About a week later, videos from a vlog channel called "Visiting Tuc Tranh to hear green tea tell love stories" went viral on social media. A beautiful, peaceful setting with lush green hills and stories of a tech engineer who left the city to return to his hometown with a girl from the tea-growing region suddenly attracted millions of views. The videos, capturing scenes of tea harvesting at dawn on the hills, traditional tea processing methods, and many stories about the tea industry steeped in the local culture, captivated viewers.

A month later, "The way to Tuc Tranh" was the top search term according to a social media survey.

Source: https://baothainguyen.vn/van-nghe-thai-nguyen/202508/duong-ve-tuc-tranh-d4a3444/