Farmer couple raised 5 children to become doctors, masters, and engineers

In the middle of the year-round sunny and windy countryside of Binh Chuong commune (Quang Ngai), there is a story that moves everyone who hears it.

That is the story of Mr. Le Van Nhan (69 years old) and Mrs. Luong Thi Thuan (68 years old), two barefoot farmers who work hard all year round, raising 5 children to become successful: one has a doctorate, one has a master's degree, and one is an engineer.

"I don't want my children to be famous, I just want them to not suffer like their parents," Mr. Nhan said, smiling and tearing up over a cup of cold tea, in a small house located next to the gentle Tra Bong River.

Children enter university one after another: "So happy, so worried!"

An Phong village, Binh Chuong commune (Binh My commune, old Binh Son district) is a purely agricultural area. The whole village only hears the sound of chickens and cuckoos all year round. People only dream of having enough food and clothes, but few dare to dream of sending their children to university. Yet this farming couple "played big": raising 5 children to be properly educated.

Mr. Nhan remembers clearly the summer of 1999 when the whole neighborhood was in an uproar when Le Thi Luong Van (now 44 years old), his eldest daughter, passed the entrance exams to two universities: Hue Medicine and Pharmacy, Hue Pedagogical University and Quang Ngai Pedagogical College. "At that time, I was very happy! But I was also worried. It was just the first child, but my heart was pounding, thinking about where the money would come from to send my child to school. Who would have thought that from then on, every child would pass the university entrance exams!", he smiled gently.

Farmer couple Le Van Nhan and Luong Thi Thuan in Binh Chuong commune (Quang Ngai)

PHOTO: K.AI

Two years later, it was the turn of the second son, Le Luong Vuong (now 42 years old), who also passed the entrance exams to Da Nang Polytechnic and Hue Pedagogical University. "This boy is even better than his sister," he said. "Back then, he won second prize in the national geography exam, but that year there was no first prize. When I heard the news, I was so happy I wanted to cry, but then my stomach dropped: Oh no, this is a difficult time!"

And just as he had predicted, that "hard period" lasted... nearly 20 years. When Vuong had not yet graduated, his younger brother Le Luong Vy (now 39 years old) passed the entrance exam to Da Nang Polytechnic. Then Le Thi Luong Vi (now 38 years old) entered Hanoi Polytechnic. Even the youngest son Le Luong Vien (now 32 years old) followed his older brother and sister to Da Nang Polytechnic. He laughed half-jokingly, half-seriously: "Every year the admission letter comes, but every year the tuition fee is lacking. I am happy, but I am worried... to death!".

EACH ONE HAS A HOE

When his son was still in school, Mr. Nhan's family had 12 sao of sugarcane fields (6,000 m2 ⁾ , and raised cows, pigs, and chickens. "Working on sugarcane is very hard, every step is heavy. Sugarcane leaves cut my hands and face, my skin was always sore, rarely was my skin intact," Mr. Nhan said, then raised both hands, pulled up his pants, showed his calloused legs and hands, and laughed: "Sugarcane is my "life partner".

Mr. Le Van Nhan (left) talks about the time his children went to university.

PHOTO: PA

Every morning, when the school bell had just ended, the five children trotted out to the fields with hoes. "Each child had a hoe, and their father followed their son, to weed the sugarcane. No one took any extra or reduced classes. Learning was in their hands, in their heads, and in their sweat," he said. Pitying their hard-working parents, the two eldest children, Luong Van and Luong Vuong, chose to study pedagogy instead of medicine, because "they knew medicine was expensive and they were afraid their parents could not afford it."

As for Mrs. Thuan, the hard-working mother, every morning she carries a basket to Thach An market "buying at the beginning of the market, selling at the end of the market", collecting every little profit to contribute to her husband. After returning from the market at noon, she goes back to the fields, in the afternoon she cooks, and in the evening she sews clothes for her children. Many people ask her if she ever feels tired, she smiles: "Of course I do. But when I see letters from my children, sometimes just one line "don't worry, Mom and Dad" makes me feel better immediately."

In those days, Mr. Nhan rarely had more than a few hundred thousand in his pocket, but he still sent his children to school everywhere. "If he was short, he would run to the neighborhood to borrow money. He said he would borrow money for his children to go to school and people would give it to him right away. People in our village are very kind, they help each other in times of need."

He always remembers the times when someone lent him money and said: "Okay, just pay it back slowly. As long as your child graduates and becomes a good person, that's enough." Now remembering, his eyes well up with tears: "My neighbors don't have any wealth, they only have humanity. That's more precious than money."

"FAMILY OF DOCTORS AND MASTERS..." IN THE MIDDLE OF THE COUNTRYSIDE

Mr. Nhan and his wife's small house is still as simple as before, the walls have turned the color of time. Now, the family has 1 doctorate, 1 doctoral student, 2 masters and 1 engineer. People in the area often joke: "A farmer's family but has a higher degree than... the village chief!". Mr. Nhan just smiles and scratches his head: "The children are educated thanks to God, I don't know anything. Now that they have graduated and have stable jobs, my wife and I feel secure."

Although his children wanted to come back and build a more spacious house for their parents, Mr. Nhan still shook his head, saying he was used to being single. This house was where he had sweated and shed tears to build. Here, there was the smell of soil, sugarcane, and his life. Now, every Tet, his five children and grandchildren from all over gathered, and the small house resounded with laughter and chatter.

The family of Mr. Le Van Nhan and Mrs. Luong Thi Thuan

PHOTO: NVCC

No matter how much you study, you must live a decent life. You must teach your grandchildren to study hard and be kind to others. I only hope that the flame of love for learning and hard work in our family will continue to burn brightly, so that the next generation will be better than the previous one.

Mr. LE VAN NHAN

Mr. Nhan did not talk much about his children's achievements, but only repeated one thing: "No matter how much you study, you must live a decent life. You must teach your grandchildren to study hard and love others. I only hope that the flame of love for learning and hard work in our family will always burn brightly, so that the next generation will be better than the previous one."

Mr. Dinh Dung, who has been working to promote education in Binh Chuong commune for more than ten years, said: "Mr. Nhan's family is a typical example of studiousness. Their story makes many people believe that even though they are poor, if they have determination and love, they can still raise their children to be good people."

Now, whenever people pass by Mr. Nhan's land along the Tra Bong River, they still see him bent over weeding, next to Mrs. Thuan busily feeding the chickens. They still live as they have for many years, simply and peacefully. However, in those calloused hands is a huge "fortune": 5 successful children, the sweet fruits of decades of hard work and the boundless love of a Quang farmer couple.

"Some people say I'm rich. I'm really rich: rich in children, rich in village love, rich in joy," Mr. Nhan smiled gently. Then he looked up at the fields. The sugarcane fields were no longer green, but the afternoon sun pouring down on his faded shirt was still there: "Hard work but happy. Surely God loves me!", he smiled and spoke softly.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/vo-chong-nong-dan-nuoi-5-con-thanh-tien-si-thac-si-ky-su-185251026175349494.htm