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The island district is a part of the coastal city. Like a single, eccentric child, it likes quietness so it lives in isolation from the noisy city. People who want to go to the island have to wait for the ferry, one trip every hour. Customers jostle and stand in the cafes waiting for the ferry, the wind blows so strongly and stiflingly that it seems like the salty taste of the sea has filled their mouths. Some days it is so crowded that the ferry does not have enough seats and they have to wait for the next one. Or they have to pay more to take the speedboat. Traveling takes time, so besides tourists, the islanders only go to the city when necessary. On the island, besides the saltwater and brackish water lakes and ponds used for shrimp farming, the area is mainly primeval forest. Van has been to the island several times during the most depressing period of his life. He once had the idea of ​​running away from all the creditors to go to the island and live in hiding on a mountain somewhere. So that he would not be woken up by the sound of knocking on the door and cursing in the mornings. At night, even if he closed his eyes, he would not have to worry about someone holding a knife to his neck in the middle of his dream. How could anyone find Van on the island, with vast green fields and towering mountains on one side and the endless ocean on the other? Van would live there until old age like a wild animal, without needing his own kind.

Crazy thoughts often appear when people are at their most desperate. Like how Van once thought he would go to an island to escape from all the daily pursuits. But Van had not yet realized that intention when he was arrested and sent to prison. For the crime of abusing his position and power to appropriate property, Van was sentenced to four years in prison. Everything seemed to collapse before his eyes, and that was it. Living in prison, Van thought endlessly about the old days. Regretting that he had pushed himself into a vicious cycle of sin. Leaving his old mother and wife and children in so much trouble and debt because of him. Not knowing how his mother was living at home in front of the world's contempt, in front of the pain and sorrow for her son. His mother was very old, in the last meal he had with his mother, Van saw a few strands of gray hair in the plate of vegetables that his mother could not see. His mother's thin shoulders bulged under her worn-out shirt. Occasionally, his mother turned her face away, her hands trembling because the afternoon fever had not yet subsided. Mom's meal of braised fish with soy sauce and morning glory soup with star fruit was the best meal of Van's life. Because when she got out of prison, Mom was no longer there. Only the old house covered with cobwebs remained. On the altar, the incense smoke was cold, Mom's eyes looked longingly at the portrait. It was the look from that afternoon four years ago that Van could never forget. Mom choked and hadn't even had time to swallow her bowl of rice when the police arrived. The sunset was red like blood. Mom was as thin as a dry branch, swaying behind Van. Every day, that image made Van's heart ache to the point of breaking apart.

Van's wife took her four-year-old daughter and left her parents' house to work far away from home. Van asked his wife's family many times but no one knew the address where she and her daughter were living. The old scene was still there but all the relatives were far away. After being released from prison, Van lived a slow and suffocating life. At that moment, a friend he had met in prison came to Van and invited him to go to the island to work on a farm. Okay, let's go. Van thought staying was sad, so he might as well go to a new land and start his life over. Going to the island was even better, because not many people knew about his criminal past, so it would be easier to breathe. After burning incense for his mother and locking the door, Van went to the island with a few old, crumpled clothes. The thought of going to the island to live four years ago unexpectedly came true. It was just that the last time he went to the island because he wanted to escape, but this time Van just wanted to find himself again. Find the Van of his younger years, before he fell into the abyss of sin.

As soon as he arrived on the island, Van started farming. The land on the island was barren and it took a lot of time and effort to improve. Although he had been used to hard manual labor during his time in prison, Van's hands were still blistered in the first days on the island. The land was full of rocks and gravel, and every time he hit the ground with his hoe, it would bounce back up. During the summer, there were only a few light rains, not enough to wet the leaves. Fresh water was scarce on the island, so the islanders had to collect rainwater in underground tanks to get drinking water. Water for daily use mainly came from drilled wells and open wells. Even drilling wells was full of luck. Although they had explored in advance, not every well they dug hit a water source. During the dry season, the underground water source dried up severely, and people lacked drinking water. They had to go to the city to buy cans of fresh water. The price of fresh water on the island was sometimes dozens of times higher than the normal price. It was difficult to ensure people's living needs, so where would they get water for raising livestock and growing crops? Only then did Van realize that surviving on the island was not as simple as he thought.

Every time there is a storm or high tide, seawater overflows the dike and encroaches on the island. The water source is contaminated with salt, and clean water facilities are also destroyed. The water in the wells is turbid and smelly. After eating and bathing for a while, Van's whole body is itchy and covered with pimples. There were times when Van thought about going home, but he felt sorry for his friend's bare back, bent over planting each young tree. In addition to planting cajuput and eucalyptus, his family also invested in more than a dozen breeding cows, hundreds of ducks and geese, and dozens of hens. Food on the island is expensive, mainly serving tourists, so there is no need to worry about consumption. The ducks lay eggs and sell them all. Chickens raised on corn, let loose around the forest, have firm meat that tourists love. Hotels and restaurants on the island let people come to pick them up. The demand for consumption will increase even more when the project to build a bridge to the island is almost completed. At that time, traveling between the city and the island will be more convenient. Tourists will flock to the island to enjoy relaxing days on the fresh beaches. It is said that when the bridge project is put into use, the city will also bring clean water. With water, life will change, farming and raising livestock will be more convenient.

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Working hard during the day leaves Van no time to be sad. But every night when the work is done, lying down on the bed, the image of his mother appears again. One day, unable to bear it, Van holds his chest and cries. If Van had not followed his friends to gamble, his mother would not have had to worry until her hair turned gray. Then who knows, maybe his mother would still be alive, his wife and children would still be by his side, and his career would still be in his hands. When a person loses something in life, he feels pain. Moreover, Van has lost his blood ties. Every day, seeing his friends' families gathered together, Van remembers the warmth of the past. Looking at the worn-out shirts, he remembers his mother's hard work. Looking at the meals at other people's houses, he longs for a reunion. His friends love Van so they sometimes introduce this person and that person. They are all women who have been married once or are past their prime. His friends say, "Everyone needs to forget in order to live." But Van does not want to forget. Van works hard to wait for the day his wife and children return. At that time, Van had some capital in hand to rebuild his life with his wife and raise his children. His daughter had suffered many disadvantages, so now Van just wanted to try to make up for it.

The day the bridge to the island was opened was also the day Van temporarily put aside his work on the farm to return to the city. Van wanted to go home to clean the house and light incense for his mother. So that his mother could see that her sinful son had become stronger and more mature. His hands were calloused from holding a shovel and hoe. His skin was darkened by the sun and sea wind. Van also renovated the house, re-roofed the roof, re-paved the floor, and dug up the garden. So that his mother's soul in the afterlife could be somewhat comforted. So that if he could bring his wife and children back, they would have a roof to protect them from the rain and sun. This time Van went to the city because he had just found the address where his wife and children lived. A relative happened to meet Van's wife who was working in coffee in the Central Highlands. Van would go to pick up his wife and children, there was no shortage of land here, so why did he have to travel so far to make a living? There was no shortage of work in the industrial park near the seaport. Van would still do business on the island. Once the bridge was opened, traveling would be very easy. It only takes fifteen minutes by car to get home to have dinner with my wife and children.

Land prices on the island began to rise. Many tycoons bought villas and garden houses to occasionally go to the island to relax. Villas were built, houses overlooking the emerald green sea, with their backs against the mountains, also vast green. The island had never been so vibrant since the clean water pipeline was pulled out. Roads were expanded. Many welfare projects were invested in and built. The city was so stuffy that more and more people wanted to migrate to the island to live. I don't know if any of them had the same intention as Van during the extreme years. I only know that the island now is not for people to escape to live a life of hiding. Instead, the island welcomes hard-working people to build a beautiful and rich land. An ideal living environment for those who love the fresh and peaceful life here. Every day, the island not only welcomes people out but also brings workers back to the city. Just like how Van drifts along the vast green road of the primeval forest every afternoon. Passing over the bridge with the sea breeze and the fluttering birds, returning to the city. Where Van’s wife and children had probably finished cooking dinner…