Return

(AI)

During the long holiday , Thom decided to book a plane ticket to go home to visit her parents without telling them beforehand. Holding the plane ticket in her hand, she sat waiting for the flight to depart, her heart filled with anticipation and excitement.

Although her family lives far away in the Mekong Delta, due to the nature of her job, Thơm transferred to Hanoi last Tet (Lunar New Year). She couldn't go home for Tet because she was busy on duty at work. Thơm was sad, but her parents back home were even sadder because she was their only child.

Thơm boarded the plane with the group, and next to her sat a woman with graying hair. She had a gentle smile, and as soon as she sat down, she greeted Thơm and offered an apology. She said:

- I get motion sickness on airplanes, so if I'm bothering you in any way, please bear with me!

The aunt said this, then took a bag of candy out of her pocket and pressed it into Thom's hand.

- I'll accept this to make you happy, Auntie. Your daughter said I should give it to the person sitting next to me.

Thơm smiled, thinking to herself that her aunt was so kind and simple. From her accent, Thơm could roughly guess that her aunt was also from the Mekong Delta like herself. Thơm took the bag of candy but only took one piece, returning the rest to her aunt. Her aunt refused to take it back, but Thơm said she rarely ate candy, so her aunt accepted it and put it in her handbag.

Throughout the flight, Thom and her aunt chatted. It turned out her aunt had come to Hanoi to visit her daughter who had just given birth, and was returning to her hometown in Kien Giang today. At times, her aunt's eyes welled up with tears as she spoke about her daughter. She said that her daughter was their only child, and when her daughter told them she had a boyfriend from Hanoi, she and her husband firmly refused to let her marry him. But in the end, they couldn't be so stubborn because they already had a grandchild. Her aunt sighed.

- My aunt and uncle are afraid that when they become ill and weak, they won't be able to see their child one last time because they are so far apart, one in the North and the other in the South!

Thơm handed a tissue to her aunt, and suddenly felt a deep longing for her parents back home. She thought that this time, her decision not to stay overtime and go home was the right one. Even though she was only working far away and not getting married, every time the weather changed, Thơm could only helplessly look at her phone screen, reminding her father to take care of his health and begging her mother to see a doctor when she occasionally had a cough.

After getting off the plane, Thom said goodbye to her aunt and left in a taxi. Fate brought Thom and her aunt together, allowing her to realize many things that had been obscured by her work for so long.

The little girl with two braids was coloring and drawing in her notebook while asking:

Auntie Chin! The holiday lasts five days, will Thơm be coming home? My older brother left yesterday.

While picking vegetables, Mrs. Chin looked sadly at Na, the little girl from the neighborhood who helped make her aunt's house less lonely. She replied vaguely:

- He probably won't be coming back, it's so far away.

Na put down her pen, gathered her writing implements and notebook, and said dejectedly:

- Auntie Chín, I'm going home. Please don't be upset with me, Auntie Chín, I was just asking.

Mrs. Chin stared blankly at little Na, who suddenly folded her arms in apology and disappeared behind the hedge of jasmine flowers. Mrs. Chin shook her head and smiled; perhaps the little girl saw that her aunt was sad, and there were a few tears about to fall from the corners of her eyes, so she was scared.

Mrs. Chin looked at the wild greens in the basket, her heart filled with sorrow and sadness. She only had one daughter, yet she hadn't come home for a whole year. Her parents didn't dare scold her; she was working, not playing around. Every month she regularly sent money home to support them, and sometimes even had delivery drivers bring milk, bird's nest, and various kinds of supplements. Everything was paid for in advance. Eventually, the delivery drivers even praised them, saying they had a filial daughter. Hearing that warmed their hearts.

Mr. Chin, carrying a bucket and walking barefoot, with his pants legs uneven and covered in mud, came to stand beside Mrs. Chin.

- I caught some crabs, you should cook them in a soup with some wild greens. If only Thom were home, she'd love this dish. It's hard to find something like this out there.

Mrs. Chin choked back tears, which welled up in the corners of her eyes. Her sobs made Mr. Chin extremely worried.

Oh my goodness, why are you crying? If you cry like this, anyone passing by will misunderstand and think I'm scolding you. Please stop crying!

- If I had known that Thom would have to work so far away like this, I wouldn't have let her get a good education; she should have stayed home and gotten married.

Missing her daughter so much, Mrs. Chin felt a momentary pang of regret. In the neighborhood, only her family had a daughter who had received a good education, earned a high-paying job, and even traveled back and forth between the North and South. Some people were happy for her because she knew how to raise her daughter well, that she was worth every penny, and that her academic achievements were no less impressive than those of the boys in the neighborhood.

But some people were envious and gossiped, saying that the couple were letting their daughter go to work far away for her own benefit. They weren't lacking in food or clothing, and besides, she was their only daughter.

Sometimes, what she heard was irritating and offensive, and she wanted to argue back to set things straight, but after thinking it over, she refrained. No parent wants their child to suffer, confined to the house. Perhaps the neighbors felt sorry for the elderly couple, who were sick and had no children to care for them, so they said those things.

Mr. Chin pulled up a chair, poured himself a cup of tea, took a sip to warm his stomach, and then leisurely said:

- Thơm is almost thirty now, Grandma, you should urge her to get married and have children. Then she can give you the grandchildren to look after while she and her husband go to work, and you won't be sad anymore.

- You think I don't want to? Every time she calls home, I remind her, but she ignores me. But I'm worried too. If she falls for someone from the North, you and I will lose our children and grandchildren.

The more she thought about it, the more worried Mrs. Chin became. Now, she worked less and didn't come home often, but she could always ask for time off from work whenever she wanted, without worrying about anyone gossiping. But if her daughter-in-law married someone from the North, it would be so difficult for her to come home to visit when she missed her! A daughter-in-law's life isn't about being able to come home whenever she wants. So, eventually, she didn't dare mention marriage and children to Thom anymore.

Mr. Chin nodded in agreement; Mrs. Chin's worries were understandable. He was a man, so he didn't think that far ahead. He simply thought that having his children and grandchildren around in his old age would ease his loneliness and make the house feel less empty. He sighed and told her that on his way home from the fields, he'd seen several neighboring houses bustling with activity. Everyone whose children worked far away had returned.

Hearing this, Mrs. Chin felt even more disheartened. Even little Na had boasted to her that her older brother had come home early. Surely, in this whole neighborhood, only her family treated holidays like any other day. Only families whose children worked far away and came home for the holidays could truly celebrate the great national holiday.

She carried the basket of vegetables and the bucket of crabs into the back of the house. Her leg was still hurting from a fall in the fields a few days earlier, and she had to limp for a few days.

Mr. Chin stood up, intending to go outside to wash his feet of mud, when little Na, with her hair tied in pigtails, rushed in breathlessly. She was running so fast that she tripped and fell, scattering the paper bags she was carrying. Mr. Chin frowned, went over to help her up, and bent down to pick up her things. The little girl must have been hurt from the fall, as tears welled up in her eyes. Mr. Chin brushed the dust off her feet and clothes, gently comforting her. She was tearful.

- My mother told me to bring this to Aunt and Uncle Chín. I was halfway there when I saw someone who looked a lot like Thơm, so I ran all the way here to let Aunt Chín know so she could come and take a look.

Mr. Chin chuckled to himself, thinking, "She's just a child. If it really is my daughter Thom, she'll be home soon. Why bother going out to check?" He placed the two bags on the table and poured the little girl a glass of water. She gulped it down, and as soon as he put the glass back down, she screamed loudly.

- Uncle Chín, that woman has turned in there, it's her, the one I met, Thơm, right, Uncle?

Mr. Chin looked ahead and his eyes welled up with joy. It was indeed Thom, his daughter, who had returned. He was so happy he almost stumbled, nearly tripping over a chair and falling.

Seeing her father, Thom put down her suitcase and bags and ran quickly to help him.

- Dad! I'm home.

Mr. Chin, with tears welling up in his eyes, gently patted his daughter's shoulder.

Yes, he's back, he's back!

Little Na nimbly ran to the back of the house to call Mrs. Chin. Mrs. Chin, who was cooking soup, quickly turned off the stove upon hearing her daughter's return and hurried upstairs to see what was happening. As soon as she saw Thom, tears streamed down her face. Although they talked on the phone every day, nothing could compare to seeing her in person. The intense longing and affection welled up like a stream from her eyes.

Mr. Chin urged Thom to go to Mrs. Chin. Thom also cried, tears streaming down her cheeks, and walked over to hug Mrs. Chin, sobbing.

- I'm sorry, Mom, I'm home.

Little Na stood in the middle, looking first at Mr. Chin and then at Mrs. Chin, before speaking loudly.

- Thơm, please don't go to work far away anymore. Poor Aunt Chín misses you so much she cries every day. Or maybe you should marry my older brother, Thơm. He can work nearby, and you can come home every month.

Mr. Chin was taken aback, then gently tapped little Na on the head. The little girl stuck out her tongue, nodded in greeting to Mr. and Mrs. Chin and Thom, then quickly ran home.

As the three of them gathered around the dinner table, Mrs. Chin started crying again. It had been a long time since her family had shared a meal together, not since the Lunar New Year last year. Thom picked up some fish for her mother and then smiled and said:

- After the holidays, I'll ask my company for a transfer back to Saigon, and then I'll come home every month to eat my mom's cooking.

Mr. Chin glanced at Mrs. Chin, his heart filled with emotion.

Thơm smiled at her parents. She recalled the last words the woman she had met on the plane had said to her.

- Work is important, but time spent with parents is even more important. A job can be lost and then found again, but once parents are gone, they're gone forever…

Perhaps Thom thought that happiness for her right now was the decision to return./.

Snow Always Martial

Source: https://baolongan.vn/tro-ve-a194503.html