Early Tet

Children quickly remember and quickly forget: Playing with neighbourhood children and schoolwork made me forget about Tet, only occasionally a child randomly said, “Tet is coming soon, isn't it?” and then others loudly agree. But mom sees Tet in a different light. Sometimes during the meal, she sighed, "Tet comes too quickly without doing anything in a year". After finishing the meal, she took out a pen and paper and mumbled calculations until late at night, when the cold had penetrated the cracked lime wall, she entered the bedroom.

Mom prepared to go to the market early to bring home a banana tray, a hand-weighing oranges, a set of Mr. Cong Mr. Tao, and a bag of carp. I enjoyed helping my mother with carrying things. The orange carp were still swimming around, occasionally fluttering their two beards, looking very funny. My mother knocked on my head and told me to pour Mr. Cong's fish into a bowl, so I did it quickly. After a long morning, by noon the meal tray was finished, and my moon muttered and prayed in the intense scent of incense...

My favourite part is burning joss paper with my mother. Walking around my mother's feet, I was lurking around to get ghost money, or better, the hat of Mr. Cong Ong Tao to put in the fire. Looking at the dramatic scene of the fire, mixing with the ashes of coal, made me interested. My heart joyfully thought "Mr Cong has gone to heaven". While Dad was tossing salted rice outside the gate to chase away the devil, Mom collected the votive ashes and brought the fish to the pond to release them.

Tet suddenly came after the New Year of Mr. Cong Mr. Tao. I had a break from school, and my mother went to the Tet market on a daily basis, sometimes bringing leaves, rice, and meat to make Trung cakes or jam and confectionery. Father and aunt's house have and share pork together. Twenty-six New Year's Eve, the whole village here and there was bustling with the sound of pigs squealing, the crackling sound of firewood mixed with the new boiling smell, and the boiling pot of Chung cake.

I cleaned the house relentlessly, starting from the study corner. I don't remember the last time I cleaned my house with my brother. Dad was cleaning the ancestral altar. On the porch, mother and sister were wrapping Chung cakes with aunt and uncle. Despite all that bustling atmosphere, I was still busy with house cleaning. Maybe this is the moment when I work hard and take it as my pleasure because of my mother's promise: “Clean the house and I will buy new clothes”. I started cleaning from the study corner, rearranging books, and cleaning lamps, and desks. Sometimes I find out that some lost pens or some old tests. After that, I continued with cleaning of the altar, mopping the floor, tables and chairs, etc. I was really tired, but at night when my mother came home with new clothes for me, most of my fatigue disappeared.

Glancing at the phone screen, Tet is almost here in less than a month. “How did Tet come so quickly?” I blurted out. Some of my dorm buddies nodded their heads as well. Some guys even said that they had to take the final exam, but Tet had already reached their feet.

Looking through the window, the winter sun is still hot and dry, and the flow of people is still busy. Sometimes a few spring music tunes sound out of place amidst the sound of cars, honking horns, and the suffocating smell of city smoke. Tet comes late in this city. Tet is out of breath in working life. Tet comes early with the mother's worry and comes early in the eyes of the children. As for me, Tet comes when my mother's voice comes over the phone: "When will you be back for Tet?".

Translator: Pham Minh Quang