Dia Village celebrates Tet

Illustration: PHUNG BAN

This year, our village must celebrate Tet in a grand way! It must be different when we move to the city. For generations, people thought that Dia villagers would never grow up. But in the blink of an eye, they are city people. So this Tet must be on par with the city.

There is nothing strange about this. It has been the same since the eighth century, rich or poor, everyone celebrates Tet once a year. But this year, on the full moon day of the twelfth lunar month, the village chief, Tu, held a meeting with all the villagers to thoroughly understand.

It's easy to say, but when you get down to it, you'll see how complicated it is. Many customs have become ingrained and cannot be changed overnight. Every few families would kill a pig, butcher it on the 30th, the whole village would be buzzing, and pig intestines and blood pudding would be freely available. This year must be different, it's a city, blood pudding is strictly forbidden, it's very unhygienic! And the people in the city say it's a common saying to play Tet, take a break from Tet... but eating Tet is not popular anymore. Then there's the issue of village hygiene, security, and organizing entertainment... Most people work in companies, so their hours and vacation schedules are set, they can't be like that pure farmer with the concept of "January is the month to have fun". Just like his wife said, he was worried, there were party cells, youth unions, veterans, women, the elderly... if everyone joined hands, no matter how difficult the task was, it would be done.

That's not right, no one cries for the common father, someone must stand up to arrange and check... If the village chief doesn't do it, if he doesn't take care of it, who will do it and who will take care of it? The common saying is that the "prisoner and village chief" like in the old days was the position of the village chief. No matter how big or small the matter, everyone has to show their heads first. That's why when electing the village chief, the party cell had to discuss it over and over again, the person who wanted to do it was not qualified, the person who was qualified wanted to rest. In the end, old Tu was chosen. At first, he didn't want to do it either. It was like his wife, so why bother holding on to straw to fill her stomach. However, he thought that if he didn't accept it, who else would he push it to? If he accepted it, he had to do it thoroughly. No matter how much fire the village chief used to be, he had to endure it in every way. Well, "good and bad", everything came to hand, he had to gently persuade. He always brought his sincerity to work, so the whole village loved him. There were conflicts in the neighborhood that, after hearing him resolve them, became harmonious again. According to the person concerned, because he loved and respected the village chief, the village chief spoke so reasonably and emotionally that he "let it go" for the sake of peace in the neighborhood.

When hearing the decision to incorporate Dia village into the expanded city, the people were happy and excited. However, there were also many new and strict regulations, completely different from the rustic village. Lao Tu told the naughty youths that when they went to the city, this New Year's Eve, fireworks were forbidden, absolutely forbidden, there would be no more sneaking around like every year, hiding outside on the dike, now everything was done properly. The youth had to take care of physical education and sports, develop soccer, volleyball, badminton, table tennis... to celebrate the Party, celebrate spring...

In the days leading up to Tet, Dia village changed dramatically. The roads were clean and tidy, in daily conversations when something was harsh, people would gently remind each other that city people should be gentle in everything. In the past, when Tet was approaching, people would often invite each other to go to the province to see the flower market, go shopping... it sounded so far away, but now the village was still there, the market was still there, but it was so strangely close. Old Tu's comrades who lived in the city in previous years thought that he was in the countryside so far away that they couldn't visit each other during Tet, but this year, they were both city people and naturally got closer, surely they would come back to visit him this Tet. Thinking about that, he suddenly smiled to himself.

Lao Tu is always out in the street. He measures this place and adjusts that place, always having to plan meticulously, what to do before Tet, what to do after Tet... Wherever it is necessary to mobilize people to give up land to open roads, wherever it is necessary to do it in a socialized way or ask for funding from above, everything must be ready. He is the one who makes the plan, he is the one who carries out the implementation... The organizations will add their ideas, will join hands to share, but the core part, the part of advising on the village's work is still the village chief.

His wife loved him very much. Since the village moved to the city, he had become very weak. Tet was coming but he left everything to his wife and children, he couldn't be persuaded, he just talked and worked like a soldier in the past. He didn't have enough years to retire, so they gave him social benefits under the disabled soldier regime. Who said he was disadvantaged, he just said that the money was small but disabled soldiers were people with merit and were respected by everyone. That made him proud, enthusiastic to contribute and impart inspiration and revolutionary truth for the younger generation to follow...

I don't know who the young men were fooled by, but they told him that the name of the village Dia sounded too rustic, so he should ask his superiors to change it to another name that sounded more elegant. The old man rolled his eyes: "You are really young and naive. That name has been around for ages, there's no way to replace it. Our ancestors passed down that this land was flooded all year round, only fish and shrimp were available, the people joined hands to build fish ponds to make a living, and gradually they built houses on the land, forming hamlets and villages. We chose the name Dia so as not to forget our origin."

Hearing what Mr. Tu said, everyone nodded in agreement. Yes, it is a country house, but not everything changes when you go to the city. There are things that city people long for. In the past, people often criticized country people for crabs, frogs, etc. But nowadays, not all city people have crab paste, crab paste to eat during Tet, specialties, those industrial sauces are not only not nutritious, but also do not taste like fish sauce, there is nothing to exclaim about, no aroma to go with rice. That is why when something is both delicious and clean, people often add the suffix "country house" to make sure, such as country rice, country vegetables, country chicken... which sounds both attractive and guaranteed like an unwritten law. If there is anything delicious in the country, people bring it to the provincial market to sell. A bunch of vegetables, a bunch of shrimp, an eggplant, a squash... everything is clean and neat, completely different from the village market where everything is too messy. Country people are also quite tactful. On days when goods are expensive, sell quickly, and get a good price... if anyone asks, they usually just say "today is also easy to sell" very tactfully.

Not only was old Tu enthusiastic about the village becoming a city, but the "barefoot" merchants in Dia village were also bustling. Along the main road running along the village, shops quickly sprung up. Such as: football cafe, table tennis, draft beer, breakfast, groceries... Every shop had eye-catching signs, the goods were also quite bustling, the villagers stayed up later, the village roads were brighter, the atmosphere was clearly noisier. The shape of the street seemed to have been formed since some time ago.

Before Tet, the people of Dia village were already dressed up nicely. They were telling each other: city people must be beautiful, how can they be shabby like in the past, their way of walking and talking must also be different. They must clearly be people from the city. That is the thinking and actions of the so-called young generation, the older generation is much calmer, it is not possible to change everything in a flash, the rural origin also has many valuable features that need to be preserved. We must skillfully integrate into the new lifestyle to be truly harmonious.

The days of December passed as quickly as mice running in the fields. In the blink of an eye, it was almost the day of the Kitchen Gods. People from far away were bustling back to the village, and old Tu had to worry about arranging so many things. He had calculated that from now until Tet, every day he would announce loudly on the village loudspeaker several times:

- This year, my hometown Dia village has been merged into the city. This is the first Tet with an urban atmosphere. Therefore, all members of the village, regardless of whether they work far away or stay in the village, must try to celebrate Tet economically, happily, civilly, politely, preserve and promote the beauty of my hometown Dia village to be worthy of being a city dweller and especially to be safe from the epidemic!

Short story by NGUYEN PHU NINH