We Belong Together

Chapter 5

Thao turned the Viet Tien shirt back and forth a few times, satisfied and handed it to the shopkeeper to carefully fold it. Phan has never complained about his shirts, but she personally feels the urgent need to replenish him with a few, they are starting to get old. Sometimes she still comes here to buy clothes for Phan, even Viet, whenever she sees him not taking care of her at all. In the middle of the store, the owner put up a row of hangers to hang sample shirts, and on either side of the wall, shelves full of shirts for Thao to choose from. She took a white one and a plaid one.

"You really have an eye for taste," complimented the salesman with an obvious flattery - the white color exudes elegance, and this plaid shirt makes the wearer look more manly. Your brother will love it.

- I bought it for my husband

- Mom, so you are getting married? - The guy joked, but his eyes could not hide the regret. - You're only 16, right?

- Being forced to kiss - Thao doesn't fit - my family is too poor, so I had to sell myself to redeem... love.

- Tragedy? But I find her more like Thuy Kieu than Sister Dau. - Exactly, Sister Dau didn't sell herself?

- If you sell your child, you're not selling, right?

- Are you good at studying Literature?

- I always sympathize with tragic lives.

- If you are so compassionate, will I get a discount?

"Come on," he squealed, "I'm not so easily fooled.

- I still have enough money to pay you - Thao laughs - don't worry.

The sky is clear and blue, sometimes there is a cloud of drifting...

***

Viet pulled his Acma GS onto the sidewalk, away from the record store's parking lot, carefully propping up his beloved car, smiling proudly at the envious and admiring eyes watching. followed from the posh Café across the street. The story, his Widemount engine Vespa, made in Italy in the fifties, is not being considered the rarest and most valuable sports Acma today? The car that the old Vespa players have always coveted and are willing to trade a fortune to have. Viet smiled amusingly when he remembered a boy said by a certain "poet" guy who loved ancient Vespa. "One day riding Acma is better than ten thousand lifetimes laing Dylan". That's it, any classic car player knows the value of Acma GS, this car is so rare that even if you dig up this whole Indochina, you can only get enough cars to count on ten fingers. . "Acma GS is the pearl in the crown of Acma, and Acma is the crown of Queen Vespa." Vietnamese has read somewhere on the website of the ancient Vespa association that the praises are somewhat humorous and abstract but not at all. lame like that.

Viet patted the affectionly, looked at the Acma GS's characteristic curvature for windsurfing, and then walked into the record store. He went straight to the main door, looped through four or five bends filled with towering shelves filled with colorful music albums and varied genres from young music, pop, rock, jazz, techno or hip hop and then dodged his way. avoid a long shelf full of young Vietnamese music genres "instant noodles" that he couldn't "put down" any song even for a minute. At the end of the street, Viet lined over and slipped through a narrow space, into a hidden corner at the end of the store, where dusty classical music records lay dormant. He just came here to admire, to relax and immerse himself in the space of Chopin, Bach, Tchaikovsky, Beethoven and many people he called "scientific friends in art". But everything he needs has been carefully wrapped by the attentive saleswoman and left at the cashier before calling him. Viet smiled with satisfaction when he saw that there were traces on the shelf showing him two plates had just moved from their familiar dusty place, so someone had just bought them. Young people these days, apart from conservatory students, people with the same "Chopin religion" as him are as rare as his Acma GS is standing out there. Viet sobbed softly, after all, who can force other people to have the same hobby as him?

Viet went to the cashier counter, bent down to pick up the plate that someone had dropped on the ground, and put it back in its right place on the shelf. He hesitated a bit before the new records of Sacxophone player Tran Manh Tuan, in the end, Viet chose two discs of the same name. If memory hasn't betrayed Viet yet, then Tran Manh Tuan is Phan's favorite trumpeter.

Viet stopped near the cashier counter, leaning his back against the wall, flicking his thumb, squinting at a girl who looked very familiar. The girl is not too beautiful but good-looking and kind. She was preparing to pay for the two Chopin records she had just picked out, and Viet made a quick decision:

- Will I be allowed to give it to you? It's been a long time since I met a young person with the same interests as me.

- The Earth is so small - Hanh turned around, looking surprised and confused when she saw Viet, she must be embarrassed when she remembered their first meeting a few days ago - Why are you here? this?

- I was looking for an old friend named Chopin, and by chance I found her here. - Viet took the new Chopin plate bag the cashier had just given him, nodded his thanks and pulled out his wallet - Cho Please allow me to pay you for the number of discs you just selected. Treat it as a reunion gift.

- Why can't I get paid for you? Take it as a thank you.p>

- For what? For helping you consume the sweets and fruits that filled my fridge?

- You ate them all in just three days?

- It can be said that, if not counting the neighbors in my neighborhood - Viet gave the money to the girl at the cashier - Now, if you want to repay the favor, you can invite me to drink Café, the shop is right there . just opposite. I promise I won't refuse.

- You are so clever.

- I dare not, thank you for your compliment.

***

The two chose a table right next to the window, where they could see Ngoc Son Temple in the distance in the middle of Hoan Kiem Lake. Fog was casting wisps of mist over the lake, and casting gray patches on the willow branches that fluttered in the wind. Here and there on the sidewalk, couples walk arm in arm under the treeless phoenix trees. On the other side, where Dinh Tien Hoang street runs along the lake, the short hand of the giant clock atop the Hanoi post office building is pointing to the number 5. Viet used to come here often when he was a child, when the The road was sparsely trafficked and the chime of a large mechanical-electric clock, which was actually a combination of three small 30-year-old clocks, was a magical sound to him. Viet called the waitress over, handed the newly bought plate and asked her to open it for him. Viet did not have the patience to wait until he got home to enjoy it. Hanh smiled: - Do you miss your friend too much?

- He's more than a friend, you know, I love this scholarly music. But my favorite is Nocturne in C minor. - Viet said while pointing at Hanh's plate bag - And she seems to be too?

- Why don't you love music that is strict, rules, but generous and delicate? It seems that you really like the nocturnal songs? But why Nocturne in C minor? While there are 19 copies of Nocturne? And why Nocturne and not Mazurka, Ballades or something else?

- I don't know, sometimes people can't know why they love someone, right?

- Granted, but I read somewhere that minor is often used for sad and emotional melodies, while I see you as a very optimistic person?

- You are a bit subjective when you judge other people - Viet cheerfully - I guess you are always at the top of your music class? Or did you study at a conservatory? - Actually, when I was in high school, there was no music, moreover, when you fall in love with someone, you will have to learn more about that person, right?

Viet did not answer, he sat with his chin on his chin and listened attentively like a sage. But then he quickly became frustrated and disappointed when the music suddenly stopped without warning even though the first complex in C minor wasn't over yet. The waitress apologized to both of them and said in a very apologetic voice that the stylish young guests sat on the first floor did not know and liked the music just opened, so to please the majority of customers. , they had to replace it with another disc. Viet raised his hands to the sky and Hanh looked at him sympathetically.

- You have to wait until the evening, then you will see him again. Aren't you going to work today?

- I took a day off on my own. And you, don't you go to work?

- I give myself a break from my work - Hanh laughs quietly - or something like that.

- Nice simile, but I don't quite understand the meaning??

"It's okay," she smiled sadly. "I also want to say thank you.

- For what?

- For not discriminating or at least avoid me - Her voice dropped - you know, people with AIDS often get...

- Don't say that, I understand your story, you don't deserve it. Moreover, if medical professionals like us still discriminate against AIDS patients, what will happen to them? Not all people with AIDS are to blame, they need to be understood and shared. - Thank you, thank you anyway.

"If you say that again, I'll get up and leave." Let's change the subject, okay? Let's talk about our pianist.

Minh Hanh tiredly dropped down on the bed, she didn't even take off her shoes, nor did she change her clothes. She ignored the breeze that was whipping through the half-opened window, blowing the murals swaying above her head. On the high corner, where the wallpaper had come off, several Ants were working hard. And on the Thach Sung uncles were playing catch, Hanh kept watching the Thach Sung couple chasing each other on the poorly-paved insulated plastic ceiling of the motel room. If only she was as carefree as the other Thach Chong, maybe it would be better? At least, you don't have to worry about running away to apply for a job like now.

It has been more than two weeks since she quit her job, applied to no less than a dozen clinics, but as a result, her phone was still silent, not a single interview call. Actually, it's not too difficult to understand, because what private clinics need, is the experience and reputation of the doctor. Things that will help them attract more patients. And that, is a very luxurious request for a two-year graduate like her.

Hanh sobbed, the amount of money she had saved for her first major was only enough for her to use for more than a month, and the rent had not yet been paid. What if within a month she couldn't find a job? Will she still be able to stay here? And she has nowhere else to go, not even to her hometown. Back to a small house in a poor low-lying land. There were her mother and sister, loved ones who had put their hope in her. But what if they knew she was sick? Will they be able to withstand this shock? Minh Hanh sobbed, shocked her head, she didn't dare to think about it. In the end, she also got up to cook, anyway, she needed to eat and eat to have the strength to go back to work tomorrow.

***

Life Private Hospital is located in an alley of Thai Ha Street, said to be an alley, but it must be the largest alley in Hanoi, because its width is up to 16m, enough for two lanes of traffic. The rows of high-class office buildings located close to both sides of the road show that this is a busy and successful alley. The two sides of the hospital entrance are planted with many of the most popular flowers in Hanoi, Hoa Sua.

On the right side of the road, right behind the main gate, a large blue sign with the size of 2 x 3m instructs all patients about the hospital layout. The fourth-level house located right behind the signboard is an imaging center with close quarters of four-dimensional ultrasound machine rooms, a doppler ultrasound machine room, a tomography room and many rooms for medical equipment. another machine. X-ray machines are preferred when they have a large room with thick lead-covered walls for themselves.

On the opposite side of the street, where the yellow three-story house always smelled of licorice, was the place for the pharmacy and folk medicine faculty. The tall building is located in front of the entrance, starting from a very large yard with a garden full of flowers and ornamental plants, sometimes interspersed with stone benches for patients to sit and rest, which is a space for working. Western medical examination and treatment, from the ground floor to the fifth floor. And above, on the sixth and seventh floors, where there are still a few lighted rooms, is the headquarters of Life Co., Ltd. That's where director Thai Viet works, and right now, he's looking at the clock, it's already 20:10, time flies really fast.

He picked up the phone and dialed the extension to call his assistant. Phuong Thuy is a talented, beautiful assistant with a tall figure, sharp face and provocative crooked teeth. She is so good that sometimes Viet has to think, if it wasn't for her, would his work be as smooth as this? When he had to run a commercial company, and also owned a private hospital and two large clinics in Hanoi. At the same time, remotely monitor the system of eight private clinics and hospitals in neighboring provinces. Fortunately, he really has a talent for management, plus a strict, orderly and scientific organization, with the enthusiastic, active and effective help of Thuy. So he can monitor and grasp very closely everything of the company. Viet usually starts work at 7:30 am, and ends his working day at 20 pm. There is only one person in the company who works hard, stays at the office later than him, that is Phuong Thuy. She is his right hand, the most active and effective maid. It was her dynamism, enthusiasm and talent that made him wonder, is it satisfactory for me to pay Thuy twice the salary of others, or is it still too low?

- I'm not back yet? Let's go home, it's late.

- I finished the official dispatch, and then finished the bidding authorization of Yen Bai pharmacy, I was back. Shouldn't you just go home and rest? Or go bowling? Tomorrow is the day you go to bowling, right?

- YES! Well, let's do the work, go to dinner, I live alone anyway, go home to eat tangerines where to ensure health?

- I see that usually, when you go to Bowling, you also run directly from the company to Starbow, right? What do you do to ensure your health?

- Are you condemning me? - Happy Viet - Well, I'll leave it to work, let's go eat together, anyway, we have to take care of our health. Health is my own, but if anything affects work, that's your problem.

- Rub! I'm wondering which side the boss's balance will tilt? Employee health, or work?

- I don't usually make it so difficult for others every day, do I? - Viet joked - In your opinion, which side will the balance tilt?

"I just hope it's not a scale with a drop of mercury in it." Will you pay today boss? - Thuy replied, Viet is usually very comfortable with her employees. - If the boss pays, I will try to eat a lot, tomorrow I don't have to eat breakfast.

- Comfortable - Viet laughed loudly - You are really "tricky". Going to Nguyen Sieu to eat fried intestines? Or go to Ngu Xa to eat pho rolls?

- Depends on the boss. But if I get to choose, I won't go to those places, a bit too popular, noisy and not clean. Looking for a luxurious, delicious place, brother, although it is a bit expensive.

- Money doesn't matter, the question is do I like it or not?

- It doesn't matter if I like it or not, boss, the problem is, you should go to the right place with your "class".

- Um! - Viet shocked his head, still thinking that Thuy was joking, but he still didn't like it at all. Thuy is quick, clever, intelligent and ambitious. But she has a weakness, is that she always thinks she is above others.

- Ah! Let me give you a bunch of resumes, then you can see them tomorrow - Thuy's voice is still steady, she must think what she just said is normal - you told me the other day that I needed to hire more doctors. . I brought it up and then I went to eat it.

***

Thai Viet was boredly at the pile of thick job applications that Thuy put on his desk and shook her head. Almost every year, he had to post a dozen more recruits, and in that time, about the same number of people broke up with him. It's not because he doesn't pay them enough, it's just that they can't meet the demands and pressures of the job.

Working in a private hospital requires many special conditions, sometimes Viet has to spend nearly two million dong just to pay a former director to examine the patient for an hour. The effect is certainly not much because in an hour, he can only examine two or three people at most. But what he needed was the reputation of the former abbot. And the work of a medical team following him, even just to serve and complete his unfinished business, is also heavy and very stressful. What he asks of employees is not their qualifications, not their relationships, but their ability and gratitude. That is not for everyone, especially in this frivolous degree-driven society.

But in the meantime, Viet ignored the former director and all the other papers lying on the table. "I'll touch you tomorrow," he whined, "now I've got to do with my stomach, I'm hungry..."