Chapter 16 — Cartographer of Lost Roads

The coastal town where Trinh's family moved to live in 2003 is located more than two hundred kilometers from Kim Xuyen, a trip that takes nearly five hours by bus. Van Khue and Duy Khanh set off early Saturday morning, carrying an old photo of Mr. Tuyen, a copy of the birth certificate, and a small folder summarizing what they had learned about this clue.

The town is small, the salty air of the sea pervades the streets, rows of low-rise houses are located close together, interspersed with a few cafes and stalls selling fresh seafood right along the road. According to the address listed in the civil status records provided by Duy Khanh's friend, they found a small alley near the central market, where there was an old four-level house but newly whitewashed, a trellis of bright red bougainvillea flowers climbing up the entire eaves.

During the long journey, Van Khue could hardly say much, just sat quietly looking at the scenery passing by outside the passenger window, clutching the notebook tightly in her lap. Duy Khanh, sitting next to her, also understood the tension she was carrying, so most of the time he just sat quietly next to her, occasionally gently holding her hand naturally, as a wordless way of reassurance.

"What if it's not you?" Van Khue asked, her voice lowered as the car neared the destination. "I'm afraid, if this is just a coincidence of names, I won't know how to face my grandfather, after giving him so much hope."

"Whatever the outcome, this is still a clue worth pursuing," Duy Khanh replied, his voice calm. "And if it's not this time, I'll keep looking, until I find it. You've waited thirty years, you're patient enough to wait a little longer, if necessary, as long as you don't give up."

Those words helped Van Khue calm down somewhat, although her heart was still beating rapidly as the bus turned into the small town, passing by coconut trees swaying in the sea breeze, children playing on the sand nearby, the sound of waves echoing from afar, mixed with the distant whistle of a fishing boat.

A middle-aged woman, about fifty years old, was sitting in front of her house mending nets. She looked up when she saw two strangers stopping in front of the gate. "Who are you looking for?" she asked, with a local accent laced with caution that is common in rural areas where strangers rarely visit.

"Yes, we are looking for a person named Quach Thi Nhai. We heard that she used to live here," Van Khue replied, trying to keep her voice gentle and friendly.

The woman's face changed slightly, from wariness to surprise. "Jasmine is my mother-in-law," she said, putting down the net she was mending. "How come you two know my mother and come here? What's going on?"

Van Khue's heart was pounding. "Mom... are you still alive?" she asked, her voice trembling uncontrollably.

"Yes, she's still alive, seventy-four years old this year, a bit weak in her legs but her mind is still very clear," replied the woman, whose name was Thoa, Mrs. Nhai's daughter-in-law, according to her subsequent self-introduction. "She's in the house, let me come in and call."

Van Khue and Duy Khanh waited outside in the yard, her heart was pounding so hard that she felt like her whole body was shaking. She tightly grasped the notebook in her hand, where she had carefully kept an old photo of the two Quach brothers.

A moment later, Ms. Thoa helped a small old woman step out into the yard. Her figure was slightly hunched, her white hair was tied in a neat bun. Her eyes, although somewhat blurred, still exuded a refined look. She looked at the two strangers with questioning eyes, unable to hide her caution.

"Why are you two looking for me?" she asked, her voice slow.

Van Khue doesn't know where to start. She stood still for a moment, then decided to take the old photo out of her notebook and gave it to the old lady with trembling hands. "Grandma, do you recognize this photo?"

The old lady squinted her eyes at the photo. Ms. Thoa quickly took the old glasses from the table and gave them to her mother-in-law. She put on her glasses, looked more closely, and in that moment, Van Khue saw the old woman's whole body stop, her hands holding the photo began to tremble violently.

"This... this is..." the old woman stammered, her voice choked, unable to finish her sentence. She looked up at Van Khue, her eyes were now filled with intense emotion. "Whose family are you a descendant of that has this photo?"

"Grandma," Van Khue said, tears welling up in the corners of her eyes, "I am Quach Van Khue, Mr. Quach Van Tuyen's granddaughter. Are you Mrs. Quach Thi Nhai?"

Hearing the name "Quach Van Tuyen", the old lady seemed unable to stand anymore, Ms. Thoa had to quickly help her and help her sit down on a nearby chair. She hugged the photo tightly to her chest, tears rolling down her wrinkled face, her whole body trembling.

"Mr. Tuyen... my brother Tuyen," she whispered, her voice broken with emotion. "Oh my god, it's been thirty years, I thought I'd never hear that name again."

Ms. Thoa stood next to her, her face also full of emotion even though she did not fully understand the story, she only knew that this was an important moment for her mother-in-law. "Mom, let me pour water for everyone, calm down first."

But Mrs. Nhai did not let go of the photo, her hands still hugged it tightly as if afraid it would disappear again if she relaxed for even a moment. "My brother... is my brother still alive? Is he okay?" she asked, her voice trembling with both hope and fear.

"Yes, my grandfather is still alive, seventy-eight years old this year," Van Khue replied, kneeling next to her grandmother, holding the trembling old hands of the grandmother whose existence she had never known until a few weeks ago. "I've always kept this photo with me all these years, grandma. He asked me to find you. I wanted to see you again, and I wanted to apologize for not having the courage to find you sooner."

Mrs. Nhai burst into tears, no longer able to hold back, the tears of thirty years of waiting, thirty years of no news, thirty years of living with the unanswered question about the fate of her only brother, now flowing endlessly.

"I kept thinking, wondering if he blamed me, if he thought I had forgotten him," she said through tears. "After being taken away, I wrote to his old address in the province, but never received a response. I thought he probably had a new life and didn't want to get involved with the old neighborhood anymore, so I stopped and didn't dare to write more, for fear of disturbing his life."

That sentence made Van Khue realize another heartbreaking piece of the story - it was very possible that those letters were blocked and did not reach Mr. Tuyen, perhaps because of those who wanted to keep all traces related to Van Dang secret, wanting to completely cut off all connections that could revive the buried story.

"Grandma, it's not your fault, nor did he intentionally alienate you," Van Khue said, her voice choked. "The story is much more complicated, I will tell you everything, but first, do you want to see grandpa again? My whole family is looking forward to welcoming you back to visit."

Mrs. Nhai nodded without hesitation. The tears had not stopped falling but a smile began to appear on her face, the smile of someone who had just found a lost part of her own life after nearly thirty long years.

“Yes,” she said, her voice shaky but firm. "I want to see my brother again, even if it's just once. All these years, I've been hoping for this day."

Ms. Thoa, standing next to witness the entire conversation, now partly understood the story, her eyes were also red. "Mom, let me call and let Mr. Hai know," she said, mentioning her husband, Mrs. Nhai's son, who is currently at sea and has not returned yet. "He will probably be very happy to hear this news."

Van Khue stayed in town for another day, spending all her time sitting next to Mrs. Nhai, listening to her recount the years she had spent after leaving Van Dang - the difficult first years in a foreign land, rebuilding a life from scratch with her husband, the children being born one after another, and the nostalgia for her homeland and her only brother that had never gone away, even though she tried to bury it deep in her heart so she could continue living.

"There were nights when I dreamed of seeing my neighborhood again, seeing the banyan tree at the top of the neighborhood, seeing Mr. Tuyen wearing a leaf hat coming home from school, waving to me," she said, her voice distant. "Woke up, tears drenching my pillow, but didn't dare tell anyone, afraid my husband and children would worry."

Before leaving, Duy Khanh carefully discussed with Ms. Thoa about the plan to welcome Mrs. Nhai to Kim Xuyen to visit her family next week, arranging everything carefully to make the trip as comfortable as possible for an old lady at her old age. On the car ride back, Van Khue leaned her head on Duy Khanh's shoulder, her heart filled with a mixture of relief and excitement when thinking of the moment the two Quach brothers, after nearly thirty years of separation, were about to meet again.