Early morning market

Until now, every time I go to the market early, I still see the familiar image as in my childhood memories, that is the hard work of women and mothers with their stalls. If in the past the market was just carrying poles, baskets and trays by women, now it is more bustling with carts, rickshaws and even small cars carrying goods by many people, including men, old and young, working hard. They are always working, always working without a moment of rest to make the market flow like the river of life.

In the past, the market was only a half-day session, goods were only carried from the surrounding area, including vegetables from the garden, fish from the river and pond caught at night, cakes and fruits made in the evening, and foods steamed, boiled, and grilled right on the market sidewalk. Occasionally, traders would bring baskets and carts of goods to spread out on the ground to sell... Now the market is different, like Dam market (Nha Trang city), where I live nearby, which has become the largest market in the city and the province for the past century. From midnight, in front of the market gate, there were loud trucks from the West, the South, Da Lat, and other districts and towns near and far, carrying hundreds of tons of fruits and vegetables to the large and small warehouses here. Just after midnight, the entire market square was brightly lit with charging lights. Those were the warehouse trucks unloading their goods. Cyclos and rickshaws received the goods and hurriedly rushed to all over the market to release them. The sounds of people carrying, shouting, and laughing were loud in the half-light, half-dark light.

Next, wholesalers and retailers cling to the piles of goods, collect them, pack them into bags and baskets, and then carry them onto trucks to disappear on the quiet, sleeping streets. At the warehouses, people also rush to pack vegetables and fruits to deliver them directly to agents everywhere. When the warehouses are empty, the early market is for retailers. The earliest are vegetables, meat, and ham. If it is the 15th or 1st of the lunar month, the fruit and flower stalls, tofu stalls, mushrooms, and eggplant stalls will have to be fully prepared to serve vegetarians. When the vegetables are displayed, the fish will arrive. In the past, when going to the early market, women and mothers would carry baskets and bags around the market to buy vegetables, fish, meat, and shrimp to cook for the day, so the early market was still leisurely. Now it is different, the early market is for everyone, from men, women, the elderly, and the young, but most people ride their motorbikes straight to the place where they usually buy their goods. Almost everyone who goes to the market early is in a hurry to get home to work...

Time has passed, the old market has changed, men can also sit next to a basket of shrimp, a bunch of fish, a small tray of fruit or a patch of flowers for the full moon offering, but the image of a woman sitting next to her stall is still the same: gentle, kind, affectionate with customers...

DUONG MY ANH

Source: https://baokhanhhoa.vn/van-hoa/sang-tac/202407/tao-tan-cho-som-6b64504/