- Linh! Eat and take a nap. The next shipment will arrive this afternoon and we'll have to work overtime. I don't have the energy!
- Later. Try to finish this place.
The worker's shirt was taken off and hung on a nearby crane. Linh looked at the rays of sunlight pouring down and asked Huynh:
- Is there a lot of stock? What time do you work overtime?
- Half past. Instead of coming back in the afternoon, it's probably nine or ten at night. Are you planning to call me in advance?
Linh's dark face suddenly turned red. Linh took the lunch box from Huynh's hand and ate it heartily. Working hard was tiring, so every meal was delicious. The food given by the factory today was quite delicious. Linh took out a bag from her pocket, put some food in it, rolled it up, and put it in the lunch box she always brought to work.
- How can you be full if you keep eating like that? - Huynh quickly complained as soon as he saw it.
- Full of rice and salty food.
Huynh shook his head and said nothing, because he didn't find it salty at all. Linh scooped up large spoonfuls of rice and ate quickly to take a break. There was a lot of goods coming in today, so she had to take advantage of it. Linh looked towards the lunch box, and a smile appeared on her lips.
***
Linh knew her because they were neighbors before, but then she heard that she got married, went to the city, and disappeared. Linh was from the countryside, her parents died early, and her relatives had their own problems, so Linh lived alone and grew up in the small house at the end of the village that her parents left behind. Although she lacked food and clothing, Linh was a big girl, and thanks to her health, many people hired her as a day laborer. Linh was quiet, did not like to socialize, did the job she was assigned, then received the money and went home. She did not socialize with anyone, but Linh was diligent, so many employers liked her. Everyone in the village remembered Linh for her distant appearance and her body full of scars.
Those scars originated from the flood season a few years ago. That day, Linh's small house was tilted by a storm. Holding the house steady with stakes, Linh thought she would just hold out and wait for the storm to pass overnight; suddenly she heard a cry for help. Linh quickly ran outside, and outside, some adults were screaming:
- The flood swept away Mr. Bay's house.
- Where is Vi...
In the heavy rain, the sound of people crying and screaming became clearer and clearer. The storm was still raging, the flashlight tried to tear the dark night but was swallowed by the darkness.
- The kid is in the middle of the river, stuck at the duck shed over there. Everyone throw the rope over here...
Linh shouted loudly, everyone quickly threw Linh a rope tied around her body and a few young men ran after her. The river water flowed rapidly as if aided by the ferocity of the storm. Water covered the sky. The darkness was thick, flashlights appeared and disappeared.
- Holding on to the rope, I swam back to the shack.
Linh had just tied the rope tightly to her body, hastily assigned a few words, then jumped into the river and tried to swim. The water splashed into her face, as if it wanted to tear Linh apart. This was a deserted section of the river, Linh had always been here alone, familiar with the terrain, used to fishing at night or going to traps. Linh knew where this was in the dark with her eyes closed and where the sound came from. The water was more violent but Linh had managed to swim to the hut. It was a duck herding hut of the local people, usually anchored firmly in the middle of the river. Vi, the grandson of Mr. Bay, lived at the head of the river, the flood swept away his house, everyone was saved but the boy was swept away by the water. The adults in the village shouted to run across the river following the flood but the water was too strong. Then Vi got stuck in the duck hut. When Linh swam to the hut, Vi was unconscious. Linh quickly gave first aid and tied the boy tightly to her body, jerking the rope frantically so that people could pull both of them to the shore. And Linh was also exhausted and unconscious.
Both were rescued, but Linh was covered in injuries. The items swept away by the flood hit her, and Linh held the child tightly, afraid that he would get hurt. At the last minute, even the shack was blown up, and Linh almost took the brunt of it. After that, the village returned to a peaceful life, and Mr. Bay's family was grateful to Linh and often came to help. Seeing that they had also lost their home after the flood, Linh did not accept any gifts.
***
The day she met Linh, she was about to give birth but had no choice but to leave her husband's house and return to the old riverside village, then fainted from hunger. When she woke up, she saw a tall man shaking her gently in front of her. She remembered that she was very frightened at that time, then fainted again. When she woke up the second time, she found herself lying on a bamboo bed, carefully lined with a thin mattress. Linh walked up to her, handed her a bowl of hot porridge and then went to sit on the doorstep. From that moment on, she understood that Linh was a person who seemed unapproachable but sincere.
She stayed at Linh's house, intending to thank Linh after she felt a little better and then leave. Linh was quite considerate, going to work in the morning, bringing home a bunch of stuff for her to cook at noon, then leaving until dark to go back and sleep. At first, she thought Linh didn't think she existed, but later she realized that Linh wanted to avoid awkwardness so that she could stay naturally...
- The child in my belly is a girl. My husband and I have been married for a long time before having a child, but my husband is an only child…
Listening to her sister, Linh looked out at the dark yard where the sweet potatoes that had just been harvested this afternoon were being dried, then continued to quickly weave a series of baskets for her sister to use to dry the cassava. She noticed that every time Linh came home from work, she always brought something with her, sometimes a carton of milk, cereal, sometimes a bunch of citrus fruits... to nourish her sister.
She gave birth to a baby, and because it was premature, she stayed in the hospital for a whole week. Luckily, both mother and child were safe. She was discharged from the hospital, and the house, which was originally quiet, began to bustle with the sound of a crying baby, but Linh seemed happy and took better care of the baby than she did. When the baby started to grow stronger, she gave up the idea of leaving. Partly out of gratitude, partly because the way the two of them treated each other like family made her not want to leave this place. After all these years, the two of them still lived together, without any ties of status, she gradually got along and helped Linh become more friendly with the neighbors.
And so the two of them created a small family. To take care of the child's future, Linh went to the city to look for a job and eventually worked at this wood company. The couple rented a small room, Linh worked as a worker from morning to evening, and came home late at night when she had to work overtime. She sent her child to daycare and also worked as a maid all day. In the evening, the whole family gathered together.
Linh opened the lunch box and took out some food she had saved for lunch. The large figure sat down on the floor of the rented room. The little girl had fallen asleep after trying to stay awake to wait for her father, but as soon as she smelled the familiar scent, she rubbed her eyes and crawled up, crawling into Linh's arms, her head leaning on Linh's shoulder and then falling asleep on her neck. Linh gently tore the chicken thigh into small pieces and put them in the bowl she had just taken out.
- Why don't we eat first? I called to say I'll be home late.
- I'll wait for you to come home and eat. The owner has already eaten at home so he's not hungry yet. The girl is waiting for you and is sleepy.
Linh quickly wiped her hands on the towel, her big hands as big as a child's back patted:
- Daughter, wake up a bit, eat meat and then sleep. Dad brought back the chicken you like.
The child woke up suddenly, still sitting in Linh's lap, eating each piece of shredded chicken deliciously. Linh also put a piece in her sister's bowl:
- Let's eat, the factory gave out delicious lunch today, I was so hungry I ate it all, only brought a little bit home for the two of us.
She knew Linh only said that, but every day Linh would sneak in a little salt and pepper or some leftover food to eat, so that when the factory distributed delicious food or the food she and her children liked, she would bring it home. Although the small house still had its difficulties, she knew she was living in the happiest days.
Short story: LE HUA HUYEN TRAN
Source: https://baocantho.com.vn/lua-chon-cua-yeu-thuong-a187019.html
Comment (0)