Sweet Mid-Autumn Festival

When he was seven years old, his father died in a traffic accident. His mother struggled alone to provide for him and his siblings' education. Life in the countryside was hard work, but it wasn't enough to support the three of them.

(AI)

When she was seven years old, her father died in a traffic accident. Her mother struggled alone to provide for her and her siblings' education. Life in the countryside was hard, but it wasn't enough to support the three of them. Her mother sent them to live with their maternal grandmother and left for Saigon to work as a factory worker. Since her mother left, the siblings cried every day because they missed her. Each time, their grandmother would hug them tightly and comfort them. Gradually, they got used to life without their mother.

His maternal grandfather died young from illness, and his maternal grandmother's family was also poor. His grandmother had been making orange cakes for decades. Every day, she would wake up very early to make the cakes and sell them at the market to earn a little money to help his mother support the two siblings' education. Although he was young, he was very understanding. Every day, he would wake up early to help his grandmother make the cakes and then wake his younger sister up for school. His sister was two years younger than him, a girl with long hair that reached her shoulders. Every morning, he would painstakingly tie her hair for her. At first, he wasn't used to it and didn't dare tie it too tightly for fear of hurting her. Gradually, he got the hang of it and even learned to braid her hair on both sides. The little girl would happily giggle. His grandmother also praised him, saying he was very skillful, even though he was a boy!

For the two weekend days when he didn't go to school, he asked his grandmother to make a little extra of the cakes so he could take them around the neighborhood to sell. His grandmother refused, but he begged and pleaded. Finally, she relented. And so, every weekend morning, people would see the tall, skinny boy carrying a tray of orange cakes to sell. His voice was like the clear, booming loudspeaker of the neighborhood.

"Orange cake here, anyone want some orange cake? Orange cake is two thousand dong a piece!"

At first, she was too shy to call out her wares, only carrying her tray of cakes along the street, so she only sold a few even after going through the whole neighborhood. Then a woman selling tofu and rice cakes gave her a tip: she just needed to shout loudly so people inside their houses would know what she was selling and come out to buy. If she sold quietly, people would be too busy inside their houses to know what she was selling and buy from her. So, from the day she started shouting, her sales increased significantly, and she sold out her tray of cakes every time.

Once, she went to the upper village to try selling her cakes. That village was full of houses with tiled roofs and towering gates. Looking at the large, spacious houses before her, she told herself she would study hard, and after graduating and earning a lot of money, she would build a house just like that for her grandmother, mother, and younger sister to live in. Selling cakes in this village, she had to shout louder than usual because the distance from the street to the house was quite far, across a yard.

It stood in front of the large gate of the house with the yellow fence and called out, then waited in silence for a few minutes. If there was no movement inside, it would turn and leave.

She was just about to carry the tray of cakes to the next house when she heard a voice calling from inside.

"Orange cake, orange cake."

It happily turned its head and smiled brightly.

"Auntie, buy some orange-flavored cakes, they're only two thousand dong each. The cakes made by the locals are famously delicious at Long My market."

The woman opened the door, smiled, handed him a hundred thousand dong note, and said:

"Sell ten of them to your auntie. How old are you to be carrying a tray of cakes that's bigger than you?"

She answered politely while putting the cookies into the bag.

"Yes, I'm eight and a half years old, Auntie. It's just that I'm small, but I'm very healthy!"

He handed the bag of cookies and gave the woman the change. The woman smiled brightly.

"Never mind, Auntie will give it to you."

"No, Auntie, I'm selling cakes, not asking for money. If you don't want it, then I'll sell them around here next weekend, and I'll hang the bag of cakes in front of your door for you until I have enough money, okay?"

"You're such a good child! That's fine."

From that day on, it gained a large customer base. Every week, when it went to sell its goods, it would hang a bag of cakes on the fence and call out loudly for the aunt inside to come out and take the cakes inside.

On National Day, his mother came to visit him and his siblings. His younger sister was overjoyed and clung to her for days. He also wanted to cling to his mother to ease his longing, but he knew he was a son and had to learn to be strong to support the three women in the house. He had learned this from a motorbike taxi driver when he accidentally tripped and fell, his knee hitting the cement floor, scraping and bleeding. He burst into tears, but looking around, he realized no one was helping him or comforting him. Only the motorbike taxi driver was watching him. He knew the driver because his father used to be a motorbike taxi driver. The driver looked at him intently and said:

"If you fall, you have to get back up. You have to learn to be strong, you're the only man in the house. Your father will be proud of you, Hieu!"

The day her mother returned to Saigon for work, her younger sibling cried uncontrollably, clinging tightly to her mother, and she too had red eyes. Her mother also shed tears. But then, she bravely gently removed her sibling's hands from her mother's embrace so that her mother could quickly get on the bus and leave.

As the seventh lunar month arrived, people began setting up stalls selling mooncakes and lanterns of all shapes and sizes. Every day on their way to school, the siblings would stop in front of a convenience store to admire those beautiful lanterns. Their younger sister pointed to one lantern, her eyes sparkling with a smile, and said to him:

"That princess lantern is so beautiful, big brother! It has music and the lights spin around too!"

She nodded and led her younger sibling towards the school. Electronic lanterns were very expensive for their family's means. She couldn't possibly ask her grandmother or mother to buy them for the two of them. Her sibling was also very well-behaved; if she shook her head, the sibling wouldn't demand or whine and cry. She had thought about it; closer to the Mid-Autumn Festival, she would ask her grandmother for a few thousand dong to buy cellophane paper and candles. When her father was alive, he used to make star-shaped bamboo lanterns for her to play with, and she had learned how to make them from him. She would go and get some bamboo, split it into strips, smooth them, and make lanterns for the two of them.

As usual, this weekend, she went to help her grandmother sell orange-flavored cakes. With only a week left until the Mid-Autumn Festival, she wanted to sell more cakes to earn some money to buy mooncakes for her younger sister. Last year, the school distributed mooncakes to students, but they were only mung bean paste, not the mixed filling that her sister liked. Although her sister didn't ask her grandmother to buy them, every time she saw people selling them, she would blink and say:

"These mixed-filling mooncakes look delicious, don't they, brother?"

She piled the tray full of orange cakes, then struggled to balance it on her head, and began selling them. Her clear, melodious voice echoed throughout the early morning streets. She was gentle and well-behaved, so people loved her and bought from her in large numbers. She arrived at the familiar house with the tall tree in front of the gate, stopped, and called out.

"Do you have any orange cake, Aunt Quyen?"

Inside the house, a little girl about his age ran out, carrying a beautiful princess lantern. The girl handed him a fifty-thousand-dong note.

"My mother told me to take all this money."

Seeing him gazing intently at the lantern, the little girl smiled broadly and proudly showed it off:

"My dad just got back from a business trip and bought it for me, isn't it beautiful!"

She smiled, took a piece of cake, and said:

"Yes, it's beautiful, you're so lucky!"

When the little girl ran into the house with the cake in her hand, he still lingered, reluctant to leave, and stood watching the lantern go.

Before the Mid-Autumn Festival, she painstakingly finished making two star-shaped lanterns for the two siblings to play with. Her younger sibling loved them, laughing and joking, and even showing off the lanterns to their friends in the neighborhood. Their grandmother also praised her for being so clever, knowing how to make lanterns at such a young age.

At lunchtime, the three of them were eating when her mother called. Her mother said the company was giving out mooncakes to the workers this time. She'd asked a colleague to bring some over when she returned home tomorrow. Hearing this, her younger sister was delighted, but she remained silent and pensive. It wasn't until almost the end of the call that she finally asked her mother:

"Mom, can't you come home to eat mooncakes with us? The TV says Mid-Autumn Festival is a time for family reunion."

Grandma tearfully pulled at the hem of her traditional Vietnamese dress to wipe away tears. Her mother's eyes also welled up, and she tearfully apologized to them. She understood that each trip back to their hometown was expensive, and that her mother wanted to save money to provide for them better. But honestly, she longed for her mother's return; since their father's death, they hadn't had a single Mid-Autumn Festival together with her.

The morning of the Mid-Autumn Festival happened to be a weekend, so she was still carrying her basket of orange cakes to sell. As she passed the gate of the house with the tall tree, she saw Aunt Quyen smiling and waving to her. She walked over, and Aunt Quyen bought ten orange cakes. When paying, she slipped a large bag into her hand. Inside were two electronic lanterns, one of which was shaped like a princess. She was stunned and quickly tried to return them, but Aunt Quyen insisted she keep them. With tears welling up in her eyes, she thanked her.

She went home and told her grandmother, who also had tears in her eyes. Her younger sister was so delighted to see the princess lantern. She was about to run and show it to her friends in the neighborhood when suddenly she happily shouted:

"Ah... Mom's home."

High above, the full moon shone brightly. Grandma brewed tea, and Mom cut the mooncake. Seeing the mixed filling, the little one took a big bite and then ran around the yard with her lantern. Smiling, she accepted the piece of cake from Mom's hand, thinking to herself that this year's Mid-Autumn Festival was the sweetest and happiest for her and her siblings since their father passed away.

Snow Always Martial

Source: https://baolongan.vn/trung-thu-ngot-ngao-a203644.html