Lesson 1: Memorable summer In the summer of 1970, my father and many other soldiers and uncles that I worked with my father at the General Staff Department such as Uncle Vuong Thua Vu – Deputy Chief of Staff; Mr. Vu Lang – Director of the C51 Operations Department; Mr. Phan Binh – Director of C52 Intelligence Department; uncle Phan Hao – Chief of Staff of the High Command of Artillery; Uncle Nguyen Huu An – Senior Master 308 … and his “natural” family also went to work in Sam Son at the same time and were arranged in the same multi-storey motel area of ​​the army that remained after the war. ruin! The summer of 1970 was brilliant and memorable, after 4 years of evacuation from the end of 1965 to the end of 1969 by the US bombarding in the North, for the first time we were happily free on the streets and back to school. Hanoi inside. Headquarters of Road 9 – South Laos B702 during a meeting with General Vo Nguyen Giap in 1971 (document photo) The first time I studied with friends in the South crossed the Truong Son road for thousands of miles to the North was when I was in grade 6 at Xuan Dinh school. Little girls and boys who were about 9-12 years old, or even younger, were children of soldiers and soldiers secretly operating in the enemy area, after the Mau Than General Attack was revealed and was shot and killed and arrested by the enemy. , fierce repression should be brought to the North. They had to walk through the streets of “Liberation”, always being ambushed by the enemy, bombarded from all over the southern provinces to the Socialist Palace (near the North) to get a car, usually it took nearly 2 – 3 months, “bring a backpack with all kinds of things like clothes, hammocks (with curtains and covers), dry food, drinking water, etc … and put on the shoulder about 3 – 5 kg of rice on the shoulder , most of which serve themselves. In total, from 1954 – 1955 to 1975, about 32,000 children in the South were sent to the North, studied at dozens of schools dedicated to Southern students or studied with us like at Xuan Dinh school … In Grade 7 I studied at Trung Vuong school, Ms. Binh was the head teacher. Due to my poor score and bad behavior in 6th grade because I used to fight and was diligent in practicing soccer without doing my homework, I almost got double classes, luckily thanks to my mother also teaching Van and dad to fight. So far, the homeroom teacher sympathized with me to grade 7! For this reason, I was seated by Ms. Binh at the last table, behind the wall and with up to 5 girlfriends sitting in front and around, of which I remember three “Jade rocks” sitting at either end of the table and blocking right in front of the table. face so I can’t play with and get close to any boyfriend during class! I was just at the school of cadet Nguyen Van Troi when I returned to the beginning of 6th grade, so I still wore the uniform even though my pants were too low because I grew too fast for my age, my head wore a border guard and pulled the front cover and two earplugs. dropped down without a rope, covering his face, looking very pitiful! At that time, my father came out of the Central Highlands after more than 2 years of fighting on B3 Field from the 1968 General Attack on Mau Than as Deputy Chief of Staff. The Military Region returned to the position of Director of the C55 Military Training Department as before he left B. My father was very interested in teaching his children, especially because I was the first son, growing up early during the war, so he paid special attention to teaching. I shoot guns, learn martial arts and exercise … At the end of the summer of 1970, my father sent the whole family to work in Sam Son! It is impossible to imagine our happiness because at that time, although the US had stopped bombing the North, the fighting was still raging in the South and across the Indochina battlefields. At the age of 15, Sam Son was beautiful before the war with casuarina forests stretching on the coastal white sand, large fishing rafts grafted with bamboo trees on the shore and chains of fishermen pulling nets every day. tomorrow, the little souvenir rafts with red and blue sails and the small shells that we still scavenge for early in the morning on the sandy shore as we go out to watch the sun rising slowly. golden streaks of light and glittering on the top of the night waves rushing to the shore. That year, the whole family was allowed to ride a round-legged caravan, a bit cramped for a family of 5 but compared to the Sam trip. Son was by train for almost a day from Hanoi to Thanh Hoa via Ham Rong Bridge just before the war, and my younger brothers and I were allowed to go with the Japanese, Huy “batch” and fish i Lan “black” the son of Uncle Hong Cu and Aunt Hanh, who had just got rid of the measles, the person still covered with red itchy pimples was great, much cooler and faster because at that time the train seemed to only run every 10 – 15km / hours! The scene of the North after 5 years of bombing by the US widened before the eager eyes of the teenagers and bold in the memory with the words “Victory” in white stone, standing in the middle of the pine forest on the top of Dragon Mountain. American bomb craters were as big as ponds filled with water on both sides of the road, along with landmarks such as Do Len, Vong Phu rock and Doc Doc temple, the Drowning Woman mountain range … This summer, my father and many other soldiers and uncles that I worked with my father at the General Staff Department like Uncle Vuong Thua Vu – Deputy Chief of Staff; Mr. Vu Lang – Director of the C51 Operations Department; Mr. Phan Binh – Director of C52 Intelligence Department; uncle Phan Hao – Chief of Staff of the High Command of Artillery; Uncle Nguyen Huu An – Senior Master 308 … and his “natural” family also went to work in Sam Son at the same time, arranged in the same multi-storey motel area of ​​the army that remained after the war. ruin! Many rows of buildings and main buildings at the gate of this guest house were completely destroyed by US bombs, green coconut flower beds mixed in sea spinach and casuarina leaves filled the aisles … My family at two gables was also destroyed by American bombs, however the middle staircase and the upper floors were intact, but there were soldiers with guns guarding them. Once, I sneaked over the broken concrete boulders to reach the 2nd floor and immediately encountered Uncle Vu practicing Tai Chi, so I got down, just in time to see a few big rooms where Dad and my uncle, They still meet every day with many large maps on the wall and it seems to be the whole table, but due to the hurry and the room is dark, they cannot see clearly inside. Uncle Vu was very serious, sometimes we chased each other and shouted too loud and he was reminded by him and we were scared of him. Once I saw a few Volga cars with firearms guarding them. At that time, all we knew was that vehicle of Mr. Le Trong Tan – Deputy Chief of Staff; Uncle Vo Chi Cong – Secretary of Zone 5 and Uncle Chu Huy Man-Commander of Military Zone 5 meeting, we also did not pay much attention because we were busy shooting birds, soccer and swimming, we only knew that the father and the Your uncle is discussing military matters only. Sam Son Summer noon at that time was very special, full of sunshine but clear, quiet and distinctly the smell of the sea, like the sound of the wind surfing between the casuarina forest and the roaring waves, sometimes adding a few more crows of crows. melt away forever. It was so special that, decades later, when I returned to Thanh Hoa town, one summer afternoon, standing by the window on the second floor of the Provincial People’s Committee Office Building, I again seemed to see the cool air filled with the flavor of that childhood. flashed by the breeze brought in by the sea and the nostalgia was so strong that I had to visit Sam Son right away with my wish even if only for a minute to be immersed in the childhood space. (There’s more)

So, at this time in 2019, the world of lotus lovers stirred when the image appeared on social networks of a type of lotus planted in a giant flower pot. In particular, this flower not only has a few petals or 100 petals like a traditional lotus, but has up to 1,000 petals. At that time, the lotus variety caused fever and was planted by many people. A lotus seed of a thousand petals has a price ranging from 400,000 to 500,000 VND, and a lotus pot of this type costs up to a million VND. A few years ago, the lotus flower with thousand petals was introduced to Vietnam, planted by flower lovers as ornamental flowers (photo: Truong Dieu Anh) At this time, instead of selling plants or bulbs, on the “internet market”, many people sell flower cut flowers like other traditional lotus. However, the price of a thousand-petaled lotus is quite expensive, up to 150,000-200,000 VND / 5 flowers, 5-7 times more expensive than ordinary lotus depending on type. Not to mention, people who love this type of lotus still have to “lay bricks” for 4-7 days to have them. Even in bad weather, you have to order about 2 weeks in advance. Ms. Doan Thi Thanh Huong from Vuong Thua Vu (Thanh Xuan, Hanoi) admitted, in order to buy 5 thousand-petaled lotus, she had to search all over the sale of fresh flowers on the “online market”. If you can find a sale, you have to go to a 3rd seller to order because the number of customers is too much, while the flower is limited. Therefore, she had to wait exactly a week to receive the lotus flowers. Flowers are quite expensive, she has to spend 200,000 VND to buy 5 flowers. But when you receive the goods, you are very satisfied. The lotus is in beautiful color, plugged into the vase. Up to now, the flower is still fresh and blooming on the 4th day. In particular, they have a very pleasant aroma. On this occasion, a thousand petals lotus is planted to cut flowers like ordinary lotus (photo: Truong Dieu Anh) This lotus type has large outer layers, inside there are many small layers (photo: Truong Dieu Anh) On the forums of the love of fresh flowers, netizens are searching for the address to sell thousands of petals to buy and plug. Because, this type of lotus appeared in our country for a few years now, but rarely has new flowers sold like this occasion. Talk to PV. VietNamNet, Ms. Truong Dieu Anh – the focal point selling fresh flowers in Ha Dong (Hanoi) – said that this year is the second year she sells thousand petals, but the supply of this kind of lotus is still quite rare in the market. According to Anh, in the past, flower lovers often had to buy tubers for planting. However, in recent years, gardeners have started to import Thailand’s thousand-petaled lotus seeds to plant to cut cotton for sale. She is importing a thousand petals from a lagoon in Nghe An. “Actually selling fresh flowers is just a part-time job. However, I always choose to sell exotic and beautiful flowers. The same is true of the thousand petals. To find a supply source, it took me quite a long time to find out that the lagoon growing this kind of lotus cut flowers to sell, ”she said. She also said, the dresser reporter flower output this year will be more. However, it will take two more weeks to start flowering. At that time, the amount of cut cotton will be available for retail and wholesale. At this time, the volume of goods is still quite modest, there are only 2 flights a week, customers who want to buy must book 3-5 days in advance. As the first phase, the quantity is only 30-60 flowers, and when it is blooming, it can cut about 100-150 cotton / day. In fact, how much or less cotton can cut depends on the weather. Because, if there is heavy rain, the lotus leaves wings, spoils all flowers and has to wait for the next batch. On the “online market”, the lotus is sold at a fairly expensive price (photo: Truong Dieu Anh) This flower is causing fever, many people buy and buy to play (photo: Truong Dieu Anh) Last year, the output was low, there was a period of heavy rain that affected lotus, customers who ordered flowers had to wait 1-2 weeks before she could return the goods, she shared. Ms. Luong Thi Thuy, owner of a fresh flower shop in Truong Dinh (Hoang Mai, Hanoi), added that this occasion just started the blooming lotus season so customers had to wait quite a long time. Like yesterday, she sold the first thousand petals. The number of cut-houses is estimated at only a few dozen flowers, but the number of lotus guests is set up to 250. Therefore, she has to arrange in order, the customer pre-order is delivered first. The rest of the guests are paid flowers in the next installments. However, with as much order as yesterday, she estimates that it takes about 2 weeks to pay all her orders. Mr. Dang Hoang Hiep in Quang Nam – one of the first people to successfully plant the thousand-petaled lotus in Vietnam – previously said that the thousand-petaled lotus has the feature of branches about 1.6m high, the diameter of the leaves equal to one arm span people. The flower is as big as an adult hand when it blooms. The outer layers are as large as ordinary lotus, the rest are countless layers of small oval petals arranged in dense inside, if you sit and count, each flower usually has 800-1,000 petals. It took 3 weeks from the time the bud started to bloom until it died.