Mr. Tu

- Don't go there, I warned you.

- What are you afraid of? We go through that road every day.

- Yeah. But what about today? Don't you know?

- Know what?

- Mr. Tu is in prison! He just got back from prison. My mother told me not to go near him. Otherwise…

- But he's human too. I believe he's not as scary as everyone thinks.

Despite Lap’s objections with all sorts of reasons, Tan still boldly walked on the familiar narrow path leading to the shade of an old rose apple tree bordering the field. This was the place Tan and his friends often visited when they went to herd cows, mostly in the summer, when the rose apple tree was in full fruit season. Every day, one or two people were assigned the task of either sitting under the tree or hanging on its branches to keep the tree safe during the fruit-ripening season.

This morning, it was Tan's turn to do his duty. As usual, he walked briskly with long steps, his mouth smiling widely, his stomach secretly happy when thinking about the bunches of plump, sweet and sour persimmons about to be harvested. Thinking about the gift that the whole group had worked so hard to take care of, Tan forgot Lap's warning earlier. Until his foot slipped, his whole body lay motionless on the glistening water of the rice field, he cried out "Ah...!" and fumbled around not knowing how to stand up. While his face was covered in mud, he was still trying to get up, suddenly a pair of strong hands lifted him up and gently placed him on the soft grass. A deep voice spoke:

- Close your eyes tightly. Let me wash the mud off first. Tan heard the strange voice and immediately guessed that it was Mr. Tu that Lap had mentioned. He closed his eyes tightly to listen, but Tan still did not forget to ask curiously:

- Sir, are you Mr. Tu?

The man scooped water from the field to wash Tan's face and hands. After a while, he slowly replied:

- How do you know my name?

- I heard my friend say it so I guessed.

The man did not say anything back, just laughed out loud and happily told Tan:

- Okay. Now you can open your eyes.

Tan blinked and slowly opened his eyes. Although his eyes were still stinging from the mud, he could still clearly see the image of the man sitting in front of him. He was tall and strong, his head was bald, and his face was dry and hard. The man's eyes stared at Tan, making the boy a little scared at first, but then when he saw the man smiling affectionately and asking him questions, he no longer felt scared.

- Thank you for saving me!

- It's okay, boy. It's good that you're fine. Just be careful from now on.

Tan smiled, said yes, and then just looked at the face of the man who had helped him. It was clear that Tan found Mr. Tu very friendly and approachable, not like Lap had said, that he was very scary.

After the first conversation, Tan suddenly felt fond of Mr. Tu. Although he did not know the exact reason why Mr. Tu was in prison, he believed that he was not entirely a bad person.

Tan told Lap, Tang, and Tinh about the story of Mr. Tu's help, and they were all surprised. Apparently, the adults in the village were whispering to each other. Hearing Tan talk about Mr. Tu, they were all curious and wanted to meet him. They made an appointment that after successfully escaping their afternoon nap without being discovered by the adults, they would gather at the rose apple tree. Right on time, from many roads in the village, the four of them gathered...

At the same age as Tan, Mr. Tu was an unfortunate child. His parents were struck by lightning and died while they were catching crabs and snails in the fields during a storm. At that time, he was just 13 years old, and his younger brother was just 10. When their parents died, the two brothers lived a miserable life, thanks to the help of the neighbors for a while, they got through the most difficult period. However, in Cao Son village at that time, every family was poor and hungry, and the brothers could not rely on the love and support of everyone. Not wanting to become a burden to the neighbors, he and his younger brother learned to be self-reliant and take care of each other. At that time, although Mr. Tu was still young, he knew how to care for and look after his younger brother instead of his parents. Every day, the two brothers went to catch crabs and snails to exchange for money to buy rice. During the season, whoever hired him to do any work, if he could do it, Mr. Tu would accept it. When hoeing the fields, weeding, carrying rice; He is good at herding ducks, cutting grass, and gathering firewood.

While his peers were going to school, Mr. Tu had to work hard to earn a living. It was thought that his brothers' misfortune was the final limit, but unexpectedly, life is unpredictable. His younger brother, his only and last relative, also left him after a traffic accident on his way home from school. Mr. Tu fell into despair. The great loss made him no longer believe in the good things in life. In that extreme situation, he was reckless, gave up, believed and listened to bad people because he wanted to change his life and destiny. At the age of over 20, full of youthfulness, Mr. Tu led a gang of weapons dealers and caused the tragic deaths of many innocent people. In the end, he had to pay the price for his ignorance and arrogance with a prison sentence of more than 30 years.

The day Mr. Tu went to prison, everyone in Cao Son village was surprised. They could not believe that a gentle, honest, and hardworking man like Mr. Tu, who always lived and thought of others, could easily fall into such a sinful path. However, once caught up in the law, sooner or later, one must accept the punishment of the law. When Mr. Tu went to prison, the villagers took that as an advice to their children and grandchildren, not to be foolish enough to follow the path Mr. Tu had taken, if they did not want to sit behind bars and lose their whole lives.

As time passed, few people remembered that Mr. Tu was once a member of Cao Son village. The life of the villagers inside the bamboo hedges, dikes, and rice roots was still peaceful and honest until Mr. Tu returned to the village one evening.

The appearance of Mr. Tu in the village made the story of more than 30 years ago be dug up again. The children like Tan who were born later were surprised. Their parents always reminded them to stay away from Mr. Tu like staying away from bad things. It seemed that the idea of "Near ink, blacken" was deeply ingrained in the subconscious of every villager in Cao Son, unintentionally making Mr. Tu not only lonely but also the lonesome person in the village. Although Mr. Tu had reformed and repented, he was still not forgiven by many people in the village. Starting his path to reformation on his homeland, in the house his parents left him, and the two brothers who used to live on vegetables and porridge to support each other with the traditional profession of catching crabs and shrimps, Mr. Tu hoped that the rest of his life would be lived in peace.

Mr. Tu did not hide anything from Tan's group when he told them about his childhood and the reason for his imprisonment. He also kindly said:

- That's my whole life for the past 50 years. Remember, you must listen to your parents, be obedient, study hard to become a good person in the future, don't be like me. When you regret and repent, it's too late.

Mr. Tu was very happy to see that the village children were listening. When it was almost time to set the net, Mr. Tu stood up, lifted up a large pole, picked several bunches of ripe rose apples and distributed them to each child. Hearing him say that this rose apple tree was not much older than his current age, all the children immediately exclaimed in surprise. They wanted to hear him tell stories about the rose apple tree, wanted to know if his childhood was similar to theirs now. Mr. Tu laughed heartily, promising the children to continue the story the next day. So after watching Mr. Tu's figure gradually disappear into the field, the whole group shouted happily, sipping the rose apples in their hands, hoping that time would pass quickly until tomorrow noon when they could hear Mr. Tu tell stories again.

Every day, Tan, Lap, and Tinh gathered under the rose apple tree. Not simply because of their friendship with the tree and the fruit season, but because Mr. Tu was there. Mr. Tu's childhood stories associated with the rose apple tree and the beloved Cao Son village made everyone eagerly wait to hear and know. Then they reminded each other to love their family, friends, and neighbors and to study hard to become useful people in the future.

This afternoon, Tan brought some boiled sweet potatoes, Lap brought a bag of green plums, and Tinh brought some ripe guavas. They also invited some friends from the village that they had just met, each of them carrying a bunch of gifts and food in their hands. When they met Mr. Tu, they quickly told him that their parents told them to bring some to eat with him and his friends for fun.

So, under the bright summer sun, under the shade of the ancient rose apple tree, Mr. Tu and the village children chatted away. Old stories that Mr. Tu knew by heart, new stories that Tan knew by heart... Just like that, the friendship between Mr. Tu and the children grew closer and closer.

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