This translation is only uploaded on Wattpad! All other websites such as novelhd.com uploading this are thieves stealing my stories! Please only read on Wattpad and Vote for me if you like this translation!
-----------------------------------------------------------
On a moonlit night, in a small house, in the middle of Thap Muoi where the water had fully risen, strictly speaking, this is the station of the line traffic, a small but crowded house. The trip hadn't come yet, so we still had to wait. During the day, we don't know where to go, we lay down and sat, sometimes our feet became restless, it's cramped, but there was a hobby of getting out of the house with a fishing rod to fish. The day of fishing is enough to eat, no one wants to fish at night. In that spare time, we often told stories. And I heard this story from an old comrade. He was originally a storyteller - at most jokes, there are also resistance jokes, every story made us laugh and laugh. Before he spoke, he always smiled and his face became witty, the old man indeed had old charm. But that day he was different from often. The old man talked but still sat quietly, his head slightly bowed, silent, his face looked out into the vastness. It must have been a touching story, we guessed so, and no more joking. Outside, a gust of wind blew. This station - a house tucked in the middle of a bunch of trees in the middle of a sparse Melaleuca forest, whenever there was a gust of wind, waves hit the trees, the house shook and swayed like a boat floating in the middle of the sea. The waves hit the trees evenly. A flock of storks stood still and slept restlessly, some flapped their wings and flew. Wind waves seemed to remind him of something, he inclined his ear to listen to them. When the wind blew, the surface of the water was quiet again, he looked up and spoke. He told us that told the whole world, he did not look at us, but at the sea, horizon, and stars:
-It happened more than a year ago, but every time I think about it, I'm amazed as if I had just seen a dream - He began with a deep voice:
-That day, I went from N.G station to L.A. When the motorboat had just rushed to the wharf, we all want to know who the driver was. Not out of curiosity but needed to know. Because before leaving, the stationmaster reported to us that it was a long way, a motorboat section, a walk, traveling by canoe was easy to be noticed by helicopters, walking was easy to encounter commandos. Noticed by the helicopter, we had to calm down, must not make a fuss, not automatically, but must obey the driver's controls. It means that my life must be completely entrusted to that driver, right? Therefore, I needed to see and to know who was holding my life. But it was already dark, I only saw that it was a slim girl, with a shoulder carrying an American carbine, with a scarf on her head, and a neat posture.
Before that, I had heard rumors that this station had a very intelligent dispatcher. One day she led a group of guests about to cross the river, she let the guests stop in the field far away. She and another dispatcher guy moved forward to clear the way. Arriving at the riverside orchard, she found herself in an enemy ambush. But she was not confused. She just called her friend and intentionally shouted for the enemy to hear: "The situation is quiet, nothing's bad, you come back to take the guests, and I go to the river to start the canoe to bring it over". There is a hint in that sentence. The dispatcher guy immediately returned, smoothly took the passengers to another way, crossed the river a few kilometers away. As for her, before crossing the river, she put two grenades back. She crossed the river, so she escaped. As for the other commandos, they thought they were going to take a whole group of guests, so they didn't dare to move, but just waited. Wait a while, they knew the truth, and cursed each other, while dragging back to their place, they tripped on both grenades and lost a few lives. Through that, it was added that the dispatcher had a very good nose, she used her nose to smell the enemy and could distinguish which one was American, which one was a puppet.
I thought that if the female dispatcher was the one driving this motorboat, I wouldn't be too worried. I wanted to ask, but it was inconvenient, so I had to say it smartly:
-How many girls are there at this station?
-My foster sister is one and I am two.
So this must be that female dispatcher, I felt happy. From her voice, I guessed she's about eighteen or twenty. I felt like, wanted to ask more, but saw that she was stooping to wrap the rope around the wheel, so I stopped. After wrapping the rope in the rudder, she straightened herself, turned around, and said to the following boat:
-I'll go first!
The guys who delivered the following boats shouted:
-Just go first, big sister.
-Go well and safely, our youngest sister!
One called her big sister, one called her the youngest sister, so I did not know who she was for real.
She answered a few sly, calling the dispatchers as youngsters, and then turned back to us, lowering her voice very politely:
-Messrs, uncles, if you have something important, put it in your pocket or a separate package. If you encounter a shooting helicopter or a commando, your valuables will not be lost or burned.
She informed us of the possible misfortunes, but her voice was gentle - and also cute - different from the stationmaster's tense voice, so I didn't feel too worried. After saying that, she stooped and started the engine. The boat vibrated with the crunch of the engine, slowly separated from the canopy of the trees, and then rattled forward. The wind blew cool all over the body, cool to every hairline. Listening to her instructions, the guests opened their bags. As for me, did I have anything valuable besides papers and money for food already in my pocket? I suddenly remembered the little ivory comb. I immediately opened the bag, reached for the comb, put it in the fake paper bag, put it in my breast pocket, and carefully re-pinned the needle.
YOU ARE READING
The Ivory Comb (Chiếc lược ngà) - Nguyễn Quang Sáng
Short Story"Its cry was like a cut, cutting the silence and cutting everyone's gut, which was so sad. It was the "Dad" that she had been trying to suppress for so many years, the "Dad" sounded like it broke out from the bottom of her heart, she cried and rushe...