In a small countryside in Tien Giang province, where everything that happened even the smallest quickly spread like a fire in the wind, the “shocking” news about the wedding of a young man named Minh and a woman nearly 40 years older than him named Ba Dung caused a stir in the whole village for many days.

Ms. Dung is a quite special woman in the eyes of the villagers. She lives alone in an old tiled-roofed house at the end of the village, near a spacious green garden. She used to be a Literature teacher at a secondary school, then retired early after a family incident – her husband died early, her only son died in a traffic accident nearly a decade ago. Since then, she has lived quietly, gently, and has a reputation for being a kind person, or helping neighbors.

Minh is the opposite. He is a person who came from another place, renting an inn in the village for nearly two years. Minh works as a plumber for projects around the area. He is gentle, hard-working, quiet, and especially often frequents Mrs. Dung’s house. At first, everyone thought that he would help her with errands and house repairs, because she lived alone without children and grandchildren. But gradually, people saw them going to the market together, sharing a motorbike, and one day Minh even stayed overnight.

The shady story started from there.

“I guess she has money, so she would marry such an old man…”

“Ten years old, not a little, this guy is really smart, he doesn’t have to work all his life to be prosperous…”

“I wonder what his parents think when they see their son marry someone worthy of his grandmother’s age?”

The rumors spread, and reached a climax when the two officially announced their wedding at the end of the month. The number of people attending was small, and the curious people standing outside to watch were many times larger.

**

That afternoon, the sun was like pouring fire. Neighbors gathered around Ms. Dung’s yard, waiting to see the so-called “unusual wedding”. On the stage, temporarily erected with plywood, the red canvas hung flashy pink couplets, the words “Newlyweds Minh – Dung” stood out. The air was both suffocating and heavy.

The groom Minh wore an innovative moss green ao dai, standing next to Mrs. Dung in a lilac purple ao dai. Both of them smiled brightly, holding hands and stepping up amid the admiration and whispering below.

While everyone was still wondering what they were going to “perform”, Minh held the microphone, his voice was solid but full of emotion:

“I know, many people in my neighborhood find this strange and not true. But today, I would like to tell you the true story of myself and Dung’s mother, so that everyone understands why we are standing here today…”

Minh’s voice suddenly silenced the crowd.

He said that three years ago, when he was working as a lake assistant in Long An, he had a work accident – falling from the scaffolding from the third floor. His family was poor, no relatives, no insurance, he had to stay in the hospital for a whole month without anyone to take care of him. It was at that time that Ms. Dung – who happened to come to the hospital to visit her nephew in the same room – stepped in to help. She saw a young man lying curled up, his hands and feet were bandaged, and he couldn’t find a bowl of porridge, so she took his rice for him. From that day on, she took care of Minh on behalf of her family, took care of medicine, laundry, and encouraged little by little.

“No one can believe that a strange woman can be so good to me,” Minh choked up.

After being discharged from the hospital, Minh returned to her hometown to live to conveniently repay the gratitude. At first, he was just helping to repair the dilapidated house, then he got used to the garden, chickens and ducks. The two gradually became close from a strange place. Minh saw in Mrs. Dung a mother, a teacher, and gradually a soulmate.

One rainy evening, when the two sat under the eaves, drinking hot tea together and listening to the radio, Minh suddenly confessed:

“Mama Dung, I don’t know what to say… But for a long time, I felt that my heart was different. Mom is no longer a mother, a benefactor. I love you. Love like the way people love each other to be predestined.”

Mrs. Dung was silent. She thought Minh spoke while his emotions were surging, but his eyes were serious and sincere.

“Mom is old, I still have a future…”

“I know. But love has no age, it’s just real or not.”

And so the love sprouted between two people who had been hurt, had been lonely, had been turned away by life.

At the end of his speech, Minh bowed his head and thanked everyone. Ms. Dung shed tears. The neighbors – who had originally only come to “watch the play” – were now silent. Some people quietly turned to wipe their tears, and some people came to shake hands to congratulate.

Their story is no longer strange, but a testament to something simple: “True love does not need the approval of the crowd. It just needs two people to understand and appreciate each other.”

After the wedding, the whole village seemed to have a different view of Minh and Ms. Dung. The whispers gradually quieted down. It was seen that Minh still regularly went to the garden early in the morning, took care of fruit trees, and came home in the afternoon to take care of meals with Mrs. Dung. The two lived simply and peacefully in a small house at the end of the village, as if nothing could stir that happiness.

However, one afternoon, while cleaning the old cabinet to rearrange the furniture after the wedding, Minh suddenly discovered an old photo hidden in a thick book, deep in the bottom drawer. The photo has faded, the edges are slightly torn, it is a picture of a man in a military uniform, young, bright eyes and an identical smile… Gloomy.

He was stunned. Turning to ask Mrs. Dung, she was silent for a long time, then slowly pulled the rattan chair to the verandah, her eyes looking into the distance. Her voice trembled slightly:

“Ming… It’s time for you to tell me the truth. It’s not just about my mother loving me, but also about my mother’s debt to me from my previous life…”

Minh sat down, feeling a mixture of nervousness, confusion and fear. What Mrs. Dung was about to say, he knew, would not be just a touching story anymore.

More than 40 years ago, when she was a young woman in her twenties, Ms. Dung had a deep love affair with a soldier named Hung. They got to know each other when Hung returned to her hometown on leave, helping her family repair the house after the flood. Hung is highly educated, broad-minded, and has the soul of an artist – often reading poetry and writing handwritten letters. In golden afternoons in the courtyard, he taught Mrs. Dung how to write calligraphy, talked about her philosophy of life, and promised to return one day to have a wedding ceremony.