Chapter 7 — Between Two Worlds: A Bride Exchanged for a Dumpling

Thua An's promise to Tieu Mien about finding news about his lost sister was not forgotten by him amid the chaos of work. He asked the group of migrants who had submitted to him - people who were used to moving through many different lands to find a way to survive before joining his workforce - to inquire about a young girl named Tham Tieu Ha, who lost her family during the chaos of fleeing food robbers nearly a year ago.

After nearly a month of fruitless investigation, finally a vague piece of news was brought back: someone saw a young girl with a similar name, living in a small village two days away from Bai Tro, relying on a distant relative who was also struggling to feed her own family amid the famine. Thua An did not hesitate, immediately arranged to go with a few people in the work team, bringing some food and spare medicine.

When he arrived, the sight before him made his heart ache. In a ramshackle thatched hut, Tieu Ha lay curled up on the ground, her body was hot with high fever, her lips were dry and cracked and bleeding, her breathing was so weak that the distant relative had prepared herself for the worst. The young girl, who according to Tieu Mien's story was a more agile and courageous person than her sister, is now just a skinny body, barely alive on the line between life and death.

Thua An did not waste time explaining at length. He immediately took out from his luggage bag a box of antibiotics he had prepared in advance, in case he encountered an emergency like this on the way. He asked his relative to boil water, crush the pill and mix it in some warm water, and patiently put small spoonfuls into Tieu Ha's unconscious mouth.

That night, he and his relative took turns staying by the girl's side, constantly applying wet towels to reduce fever and feeding her spoonfuls of thin porridge when she was a little more alert. By morning, Tieu Ha's fever began to subside and Tieu Ha's breathing became more regular. The relative looked at Thua An with eyes of surprise mixed with gratitude, unable to understand how this strange medicine worked so quickly, faster than any folk remedies they had ever known.

"I got this medicine from a special acquaintance," Thua An only explained briefly, not wanting to arouse unnecessary curiosity. "Luckily I brought it in time."

Three days later, when Tieu Ha was healthy enough to move, Thua An took her back to Bai Tro village. The reunion scene between the two sisters was filled with tears - Tieu Mien hugged her sister tightly, sobbing non-stop, while Tieu Ha, although still weak, also burst out laughing through her tears, repeatedly saying that she thought she would never see her sister again.

"I thought you were..." Tieu Mien choked, not finishing her sentence.

"I also thought you wouldn't survive," Tieu Ha replied, her voice was still weak but her eyes were bright with vitality. "I didn't expect you to find such a good husband. If it weren't for your brother-in-law, maybe I would have..."

She didn't finish her sentence, but the look she gave Thua An contained a deep, pure gratitude - the feelings of a sister who had just been saved, for her benefactor and brother-in-law, not mixed with any other nuances. Thua An also treated her properly, always keeping a sufficient distance like a caring but moderate brother-in-law, often letting Tieu Mien be the one to directly take care of and talk intimately with his sister.

In the following days of recovery, Tieu Ha quickly regained her strength, and her agile and courageous nature gradually revealed itself. Unlike Tieu Mien, who tends to be meticulous and careful in book management, Tieu Ha has a special acumen in communicating, bargaining, and evaluating people - skills she learned from the days of having to work on her own, weaving between foreign markets to barter for every morsel of food.

"Brother-in-law," one day Tieu Ha proactively went to Thua An when she saw him discussing with a few people in the labor team about expanding the antique purchasing area in neighboring villages, "let me try to buy for you. I used to travel around this area when I was still wandering, and know which villages still have well-off families in the past, and which villages are easily deceived by dishonest traders. I think I can help you avoid a lot of trouble."

Thua An looked at the young girl in front of him, his eyes steadfast and confident even though he had only recently recovered, he couldn't help but nod in approval. He decided to give Tieu Ha a small trip, accompanied by two people from the labor team, to a neighboring village to buy some antiques according to the list he had prepared.

The results exceeded expectations. Tieu Ha not only purchased exactly the necessary items at a reasonable price, but also cleverly discovered a family that was storing a precious antique tea set whose true value they did not know, and cleverly refused another exchange offer that she sensed was a sign of fraud - a counterfeit dealer deliberately mixed a sophisticated imitation into the lot to fool inexperienced buyers.

"Your eyes for looking at people and looking at goods are truly remarkable," Thua An praised when listening to Tieu Ha recount the trip, unable to hide her satisfaction. "If you don't mind, I would like to leave the purchasing work in neighboring villages to you in charge, under Tieu Mien's supervision. This will be an important job, are you willing?"

"Of course!" Tieu Ha replied without hesitation, her eyes shining with excitement. "I want to truly contribute to this career, I don't want to just be someone who was saved and then sit around idly enjoying the happiness. My brother-in-law and sister have given me a second chance at life, I will definitely not disappoint."

From then on, Tieu Ha officially became an important link in Thua An's expanding trading system, in charge of purchasing antiques and specialties in neighboring villages, and establishing an informal information network to help them keep up with fluctuations in the area - from food prices, the situation of other immigrant groups, to rumors about the unusual wealth of "Ky's son" that was gradually spreading beyond Bai Tro village.

In the evening, when the three of them sat around a simple but more filling tray of rice than in the famine days before, Tieu Mien looked at her sister brightly telling stories about the trip, and at her husband calmly listening and giving suggestions on every little detail, an indescribable feeling of warmth filled her heart. This small family, built from the fragments of loss and despair, is now gradually becoming stronger, not only thanks to the accumulated wealth, but also thanks to the cohesion, trust and sharing between people who have gone through the most difficult days together.

In the weeks that followed, Tieu Ha continued to prove her worth through each trip. She quickly learned how to distinguish real and fake antiques thanks to the meticulous notes Pham Dinh Nam sent through the gate at Thua An's request - identifying characteristics of ancient ceramic glazes, how to recognize which period patterns are real, and which periods are susceptible to sophisticated counterfeiting. She also came up with her own way of memorizing with easy-to-memorize rhymes, so that even people in the purchasing team who are illiterate can apply it somewhat when traveling with her. Gradually, Tieu Ha's purchasing network expanded to three or four neighboring villages, in each place she built a trusting relationship with several local families, who were willing to be the first to report whenever a precious antique appeared in the area.

Tieu Mien, despite being busy with books and distributing aid, still takes time every night to listen to her sister recount each trip, sometimes giving additional comments on how to behave and how to maintain health when traveling long distances. The two sisters, despite each having a different role in the growing business, still maintain the same blood-kinship as when they lived under the same roof before famine separated them. When Thua An saw that, he appreciated his decision even more in trying to find and save Tieu Ha - not only because of the promise he made to his wife, but because of the warmth she brought to this whole small family.

Thua An looked at the two sisters, secretly thinking that the business he was building was not just to accumulate wealth or power for himself, but was gradually becoming a common home, a place of refuge for people who deserved to live a better life after the losses they had experienced. He did not know that, right now, in a distant place in Bai Tro village, there were other eyes watching the growth of his family with a completely different mindset - not admiration, but smoldering jealousy.