Evading Japanese soldiers and evacuating due to war.Part VI · pages 82–95

82Printed page 82Our two children grew up with time. Our home scene was joyful, and the meal with husband and wife, two children, plus two brothers-in-law, the meal tray seemed crowded! And Uyên also had her own seat with a bowl and chopsticks, as for Hạnh, sitting at the table, she had started to know how to smash things. One day you told me:

Our family meals were so cheerful! Starting - to get đông đông!

"Yes, we were very happy, husband and wife doting on | each other, plus bai good children. At this time they were also rarely sick, our worries about them also greatly decreased.

Then you started to get pregnant with Tuấn. Seeing the good news, we hoped this time you would give birth to a son. We loved both boys and girls, but having two daughters already, waiting for a son, was just a __ common thing for any couple. _ ˆ Our way of life was harmonious, I went to work, you - took care of housework, and looked after the shop, and when it was time for me ˆ to come home, you stood at the door waiting.

Until one evening! We had gone to bed, and for some reason, we two got upset with each other.

You turned your face to the wall, I didn't speak! Suddenly a degree. _ large sung nễ rang out, you quickly turned back and hugged 'me. And as usual, I again offered my arm for you to rest your head on. You asked me:

83Printed page 83"Where are they shooting so đữ, huh?"

I didn't know anything, but I answered:

"They're fighting! Probably the French and - Japanese again. In the afternoon at the office, I saw the French closing __ doors and whispering to each other. . Í _. I guessed, and it was right! The French and Japanese were really fighting. The red night was the night of February 9, 1945, the night the Japanese staged a coup, overthrowing the French government in Việt-Nam.

The gunshots only rang out for about a minute then fell silent. The gunshots passed just like our little quarrel. We two stopped being upset with each other, and a good night returned. In fact, we rarely got upset with each other. Now .wanting to record those quarrels, I find it truly difficult, but only thầy the hardships and diligence of you who worked too hard, you did tasks . work, that someone your age, also from a student background like you, could not possibly do nỗi. »

A month after you gave birth to Hạnh, __ en received fabric from Hà-Nội to sell, but once -the fabric received could not dược be sold immediately, it had to be dyed brown. You alone with a child at home, you both watched the child and cooked, you also boiled water to dye three bến bales of fabric brown. Going to work vẻ, I found you wearing a conical hat, sleeves rolled up, stretching fabric to dry in the sun. Looking at you, how pitiful! You didn't complain a single word.

84Printed page 84Amidst the hardships, you found the joy of family.

—_ Then there were days, by order of the Tòa sứ, you had to - nang fabric to sell in the districts and prefectures 'to sell, you managed everything by yourself. Going to sell fabric, but you didn't neglect housework, . meals for husband and children were still meticulous, the house was still clean, the shop was still open. On the days you were away, you asked Miss Tơ to look after the shop for you.

Miss Tơ was four years younger than you, her face also somewhat resembled yours. That year you were 20, Miss Tơ 16, also diligent __ like you. : Miss Tơ is also no longer with us today! She passed | away at 18 amidst the chaos in the rear! She ' died from a small infected pimple. You witnessed her death and often recounted it to me. _ My dear! Now, surely you have met Miss Tơ again, or —_ Miss Tơ has been reborn! How cruel death is, it l snatched sông you from my hands, snatching you away, it made our family _ desolate. Without you, everything is gone. I miss you, the children miss you, and the grandchildren miss you even more. The two grandchildren always mention Grandma, and every time they ask about you, I feel even more pain!

If the gunshots on the night of March 9, 1945, brought us closer after a dẫn đỗi, it _ started another war that forced us, husband, wife, and children, to phái đắt each other south, to the point that here you lost your life!

85Printed page 85On the morning of March 10, when we woke up, we asked each other again, not knowing what the gunshots - were last night? The streets didn't look any different. I put on my quân áo and went to work, at the office, I saw the announcement from the quânđộ ` ._ Japanese military and only then knew that the Japanese had overthrown the French government in Đông-Dươngg. ¬ I returned to tell you. You were a little scared and said:

- Don't know if there will be a big fight? If there's a fight, where will we run? . Later there was no fight between Japan and France, but there was a fight between France and Vietnam and ._. we had to evacuate, anh in one place, em in another. .-_ Japan overthrew the French and declared Vietnam independent. Vietnam was only independent through that declaration; in reality, the Japanese army had seized all the power of the French before, and encroached even further.

They were soldiers, their policies seemed more brutal ˆ than the French colonialists, but never mind, here, anh won't just talk about worldly matters, anh will only record the -_ memories of us two.

-"_ Japan held power, they arrested many, especially young people. Don't know where it came from, a Japanese plan to arrest young people was being carried out, and people said that they often surrounded and arrested at night. Many young people in Vĩnh-Yên provincial capital gradually disappeared. Faced with that situation, we, husband and wife, were also anxious, em bản with anh about temporarily avoiding Vĩnh-Yên provincial capital at night, and ` we both agreed immediately. Later, recalling it, we - found it to be an unnecessary thing, but at that time, in that circumstance, at our age, our foresight was not unfounded †. We discussed it carefully, and we decided to temporarily move to Đồng-Lạc, Yên-Lạc district, Vĩnh-Yên province, where we had bought a little land.

86Printed page 86Anh contacted anh Phùng-Văn-Triỉnh to stay with him.

Em and the two children had temporarily moved to stay here permanently, and every evening after work anh would come to em. Usually, as his bicycle neared the place, anh would see em standing either by the edge of the field, or in the village's first shop with the two cơn waiting for anh.

Seeing anh arrive, em's eyes lit up, em was overjoyed and flustered, even though we had only been apart since morning. Em told stories about the two children, told about the work em did. We slowly ˆ walked and talked, and when we arrived home, a meal em had prepared was ready! While anh washed his face, hands T and feet, em reheated the soup, then with hot rice and hot soup we ‡a ate together, the family harmony was truly peaceful.

There were also days when anh came from Vĩnh-Yên, didn't see em at the village entrance, and when anh arrived home, it turned out em was busy bathing the two children. Hạnh was messy, em had to wash her thoroughly _! Seeing anh, em lifted her head and smiled: ` + Em intended to finish bathing the children and then take them to | welcome anh!

87Printed page 87Wherever em was, she gained affection. Anyone who met em once - also held affection for her. In Đồng-Lạc, we, husband and wife, received help from everyone and with the clean - air of the countryside, em and the children became healthier l. To prevent any unforeseen events, anh brought two khâu súng from the province, one hunting gun from Ba and one khẩn from ông Quán Thịu given to anh. | One morning, while we were having breakfast, on the | soan tree in front of the house, there were mây doves perched. Anh took the gun out to shoot, anh missed, the flock of birds flew ẩi cả, leaving a trail of smoke but only a moment later they returned. Em Hùng, đêm đỏ also in Đồng-Lạc with us, said:

ˆ = The birds have returned, this time anh let em shoot. ` Hùng also nỗ súng and also missed like anh. Em teased: ˆ - You brothers bắn tải quá! Two shots hit both flocks of chỉm. ` Em laughed, anh and Hùng also laughed along, and anh defended himself.

——__~ What's so skillful about it!, Just shooting and the gun nỗ is skillful enough!

- Besides, anh and Hùng shot to scare the birds away, not to kill them!

88Printed page 88So all three of us laughed innocently together.

In fact, those two shots, though they didn't hit any birds, were very useful later, during the August Revolution. l k In Đông-Lạc. em still thought about the day of returning to Vĩnh- - Yên; em had the foresight to still dến vẫn đẻ rice and paddy, which at that time was being ' 'scraped clean by the ñgười Nhậit. lim Bã ñhờ anh Trỉnh to buy a | little paddy for her, it wasn't that em bought it cheaply, if it was cheap, em wasn't the one who benefited. Em bought a cót of paddy, each time em bought paddy, em would show off to anh.

But then the flood season came, em's belly grew bigger each day, em was nearing her confinement period. Em vẻ Vĩnh-Yên, in Đồng-Lạc there were Hùng and Đan, keeping the house in case we returned `. Em returned to Vĩnh-Yén, then em gave birth to thẳng Tuấn, while at that time, the water rose high, and the Vĩnh-Yên dike broke. At that time, it was also when the Việt-Minh rose to năm chính quyên and everywhere there was killing to làm hậu thuần for the Revolution. Don't know what the order from the Central Committee was, but in each locality, a group of people jumped up to năm chính quyẻn from villages to districts and dến provinces; among these people, many took advantage of the unclear situation to rob the populace, robbing openly, accusing them of being Việt-gian, being reactionaries to confiscate tải sản and then share it among themselves.

In Đồng-Lạc it was the same, a group of people had replaced the Council of Elders, and these people targeted em's paddy and anh Trỉnh's gin-tài. At that time . _ We in Vĩnh-Yên were very worried about the fate of the two .em Đan and l[ùng, but fortunately they were safe and sound, precisely thanks to the băn hụt shots at the flock of birds by anh and ]lùng earlier. :

89Printed page 89The people who rose up in Đồng-Lạc, although they wanted to seize anh Trinh's assets and wanted to take for free the rice of - em, they were wary of the two guns anh had brought out.

Anh had already brought these two guns back, because ông Quản Thịu ._in:Vĩnh-Yên had demanded the gun back after he had taken .for free from anh 800$00, and Ba's hunting rifle anh had to bring back, fearing the Japanese would inspect them.

Unable to seize em's rice, they wanted Hùng and Đan to leave, and so they introduced and helped rent a boat to transport the rice back to Vĩnh-Yên, the rental price was only 10%00. It was truly fortunate for the two em Hùng and lan and for us, because just the next day, -_ they, a gang of thugs, came to -anh Trính's house, tied him up and beat him, and stole all the rice, paddy, pigs, chickens, and belongings. l Em, at that time the Bồ-Sao dike, Vĩnh-Tường district, _ Vĩnh-Yên province had broken, water flooded everywhere like a waterfall, the whole province was white with water like the sea, and within the province, water also submerged all the streets. Our house was flooded up to 8 thước. All our belongings, even the goods, were submerged under water.

90Printed page 90"— Flood, plus chaos, em had just given birth to thằng Tuấn, we wanted to move íL belongings but couldn't. Fortunately, our house had an attic, the water only reached close to the floor, thanks to that we were safe, and with rice available in Đồng-Lạc, we: didn't have to worry about the issue of buying : rice. _ At that time em gave birth to thằng Tuấn, our first son. When em was close to giving birth, her belly grew bigger each day, anh teased:

- A woman with a big belly looks really ugly!

Anh teased once, em didn't say anything, anh spoke a second and third time, em got angry with anh.

Anh laughed, em made an angry face.

Em gave birth to thằng Tuấn in July of the Ất-Dậu year at ._ five in the afternoon. Giving birth to thằng Tuấn was easy and anh was .in the delivery room with.em. Em also felt pain but | not as much pain as when giving birth to Hạnh.

When he was born, the midwife said it was a boy, em's eyes lit up, her face was bright with joy. _ After the midwife had placed em in bed, thằng Tuấn's bassinet placed next to her, em asked anh: ¬ Do you see! A big belly looks ugly but it's - a boy! .- Anh laughed. Em made anh*carry thằng Tuấn up for her to see his face. Em looked at her child lovingly, then looked at anh and smiled. Oh! How could anh forget your gentle face! Nowadays, will anh ever see that gentle, kind face again? - Em was not in the hospital for a full week before she came home. : After that came the flood, then chaos, then the fierce war between Việt-Nam Quốc dân đảng and Việt Minh right in Vĩnh-Yên. Thinking back, it was all - horrifying scenes! Every day guns fired, both sides shot and killed each other.

91Printed page 91Anh doesn't want to recall the scene of mutual destruction, ` but during this time the water was still rising, and we still lived together, though sometimes, anh had to be away from em for ten or fifteen days! We prayed for both sides to unite so we wouldn't have to fear the dangers "of war, especially the stray bullets which were very indiscriminate and often visited our bamboo grove †. During this time em cared for the children even more lovingly. They are the precious jewels of us | two. Em loved the children, didn't want anh to speak harshly — to them. Anh still remembers, one day, not understanding what .Uyễn was bothering about, anh slapped her once, em told anh:

- Why don't you love your child †? When this situation becomes peaceful, please love them - the children. Tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, who knows what will happen!

Em's words made anh regret, anh hugged the child tightly! .

The people in Vĩnh-Yên were like fish caught . in a trap. Việt-Nam Quốc dân đảng occupied the provincial capital, surrounded by Việt Minh. Both sides fought fiercely, guns fired day and night without ceasing. In addition, Chinese troops, the Lư-Hán Chinese mercenaries, arrived and stationed themselves. The people in the province could not make a living.

92Printed page 92Everyone sought a way to leave. : - Fortunately! Then both sides united and ceased fire. This was just a plan to delay the war, so that one side could find a way to undermine * — - the other, the weaker side wanted to take the opportunity to move some of its strength elsewhere to preserve its forces, while the stronger side reorganized its soldiers to launch a new attack later!

At that time it was already the Bính-Tuất year, thằng Tuấn also knew how to crawl, he was over 6 months old. | Early in the Bính-Tuất year, 1946, anh once had to go to Việt-Trì. While anh was away, at home em received news that anh had been arrested, em cried, carried the child and ran asking everywhere, - em rushed into even dangerous and - wet places, until em received clear news about anh, then she stopped.

When I returned to Vĩnh-Yên, you were both happy and sad, then you told me all your worries about me.

Our children were always well-behaved. Uyễn was six and had started school. At noon, I taught the children, and you, you played with Hạnh and Tuấn. Hạnh was taught songs. Her voice: like a young mynah bird, truly _ to love. Our home, though not better than anyone else's, but _ -husband and wife were harmonious and joyful; the only trouble was, travel was difficult, we only lived in a small area no more than three kilometers across of the Vĩnh-Yên provincial capital. Then V.N,Q.D.Đ. almost disintegrated, and both sides reunited. With this reunion, Việt-Minh entered the province. They re-controlled all the citizens, they stood _ as masters, V.N,Q..Đ. only had a few representatives in the Administrative Committee (inH, —, The government had already moved from Vĩnh-Yên to Thị-Cầu, my hometown. You and the three children went first, I went later.

93Printed page 93My mother was overjoyed to see us return. At this time, my grandparents had both passed away. Every day, my father carried Tuấn out to play. Uyễn went to the village school, and Hạnh stayed home to play with the aunts. I was also free, but _ we encountered a difficult problem: we were strangers, we were people from Vĩnh-Yên returning, we were suspected by the villagers and Việt-Minh constantly monitored us. I stayed home and did not go out. In that situation, my parents were also a bit sad, my mother's business was not doing well due to the country's situation, the profit was not much.

If we couldn't help our parents, how could we keep being a burden to them forever? Moreover, if I stayed home, I definitely wouldn't be at peace. Although I didn't socialize or play around —.

—with anyone, but Việt Minh didn't like people from Vĩnh-Yên, where they hadn't changed their allegiance, we discussed a lot about livelihood. Finally, we decided to move to Hà-Nội to find a way to make a living.

We temporarily went to my brother and sister-in-law Thúy's house for help, and you borrowed more money, we were able to open a small shop at house number 69 Bạch-Mai street. The business didn't make much profit, but we had enough to live on. It's just a pity, how much effort you put into this, then because the situation was unstable, Việt-Pháp were at odds, the people of Hà-Nội were frantic looking for ways to evacuate, you and the children also had to evacuate. Our fate was truly difficult and arduous. We discussed evacuating, but where could I send you now? To Thị-Cầu? What would we live on? To Vĩnh-Yên, would it be peaceful? Finally, we decided that you and the children would go to Vĩnh-Yên, and I would stay to look after the shop. In Vĩnh-Yên, we still had some land, hopefully we could rely on that, you would still have rice to eat.

94Printed page 94That was around October of the Bính-Tuất year, which is about November 1946. The city of Hà-Nội seemed to be in a fever. People were rushing back to their hometowns. I took you and the children to the station with the same mood as everyone else. I waited until your mother came to the station before I returned. You must have been very sad then. I wasn't happy either.

Seeing you off at the station, we began to be apart, and not long after, just one month later, the Việt-Pháp war erupted on December 19, 1946.

I walked home slowly, looking at the shop, feeling even sadder. Since we got married, how long have we been apart? We were always together, even in dangerous times like when guns were firing and bullets were whistling in Vĩnh-Yên.

I continued with the business, picking up every cent, every — stone.

95Printed page 95đồng. I hoped the situation would stabilize so we could be close again, and I'm sure far from me, you also wished for the same. The situation did not stabilize, I had to live alone in Hà-Nội, and I was also afraid, because my past might be discovered, Việt-Minh would not spare me. To some extent, I had opposed them.

Living apart, I was already in pain, let alone today, you have left this world, I will never meet you again, unless it is in the other world, I hurt even more. In the past, though alone, I believed you would return for a reunion, -_ now it is truly a farewell.

-"_ My dear Uyển, my heart aches as if cut, I have cried for you so much... sự cà vI1 I thought I would stay in Hà-Nội for a long time, waiting for the situation to stabilize, and you and the children would return, but Hà-Nội was not peaceful and the Việt-Pháp war erupted on December 19, 1946. I, like everyone else, had to evacuate, abandoning both the village and the market. Thus, all our capital was lost to the war.