Chapter 12 — The City Has No Smell

On the day the city inspection team arrived at Ben Reu market, Clean Class sprayed very early. The white mist covered the corrugated iron roof and slid down to the tarpaulins covering the goods. Nghi's fish sauce jars still sit on the shelves, but the market looks like a room that has just been cleaned with cold water. There is no smell of fish, no smell of wilted vegetables, no smell of people going to the market.

Nghi stood in front of the counter, wearing a long-sleeved shirt and gloves. She placed a red towel on jar number seven.

“Don't open the lid today,” she told her niece who was helping sell it. “Wait and see what people want to see.”

The inspection team passed by with measuring machines and cameras. One person asked Nghi if he could demonstrate the hygiene process. Nghi opened the water tank and showed the jar lid, fish import book, and thermometer. That person praised the clean counter, then pointed to the sign "The fish sauce smells. The smell is not garbage."

“Is this table aesthetically pleasing?”

"I don't know. But it fits the truth."

Huyen stood a counter away, writing down the conditions. She did not join the group, she was only allowed to observe by Quynh. Tung is at the back of the market, checking the nozzle position. An sat on the steps, drawing frost on the canvas roof.

The inspection team wants an odorless market scene. The cameraman asked Nghi to open a jar to show the fresh goods, but the system reduced the smell so much that Nghi himself had to smell closer than usual. She refused to open it.

"If you want to prove the market is safe, use a thermometer and an import book. Don't use my nose as a background for the video."

An official said the system only helps reduce unpleasant odors.

“So don't call it proof that fish sauce is safe.”

Huyen saw the cameraman put down the camera. Do not scold. She just held the jar lid in her hand, like holding a door, not allowing anyone to open it for her.

At 10:15, Tung reported that the market spraying station had increased the dose because the sensors in the southern area were fluctuating. Huyen looked at An. He just closed the book and said his throat was dry.

“What did you have for breakfast?” Van asked, because she was also present to monitor the food group.

"Bread. From six o'clock."

“Do you take medicine?”

"Not yet."

Van recorded the time, gave him water to drink and took him outside to the spraying area. No one told you he was proof of anything.

Nghi noticed a change in bottle number seven. There is no strange smell, but the foam on the sides of the bottle stops sooner. She opened the book and made a mark. Her niece asked her if she should throw away the batch.

"Don't know yet. Take your own sample."

Huyen asked Nghi if she could leave a control bottle without spraying on the back counter. Doubtful, but ask to clearly state the temperature and location. They placed two identical vials: one on the counter, one in a sealed box with a coarse air filter. Not a perfect experiment, but can be compared later.

The inspection team returned and wanted to take a photo of the evaluation board. Nghi asked if they looked at temperature data. They say today the goal is a clean environmental image.

“So you guys came to a conclusion before coming?”

The woman holding the meter frowned. “You are obstructing the inspection.”

Huyen stepped forward. “If the inspection is only recorded, please clearly state that it is a communication activity, not a food safety assessment.”

“Who are you?”

“Urban Sensory Center.”

“What right do you have here?”

"I am observing the Clean Class evaluation group. I do not have the right to stop the group. I have the right to request that the minutes record the correct activities."

The woman turned to Quynh who was at the front of the market. Quynh approached and asked the group to separate the two sections. She did not protect Huyen because she was a colleague; she defended the clarity of the record.

“If this is a hygiene inspection, use hygiene criteria. If it is an assessment sensory, panel recording and methods. Do not use clean words to cover every item.”

The inspection team continued, but no longer took photos of the smell board as planned.

At noon, Nghi opened the control jar. The jar left on the counter has a lighter smell than usual, but when tasting the sample, the salty and sour taste remains the same. Jars in sealed containers retain the smell more clearly, but also do not indicate why the difference occurs. Nghi took a few samples and sent them to the food testing laboratory.

“Did you see that?” she told Huyen. “My nose helps me know what's different. It is not allowed to do all the remaining steps.”

Huyen replied: "Yes."

“You say the right words so easily.”

“Because I'm writing down the missing part.”

Nghi holds a spoon. “I don't need you to write it down to make me feel smart. I need when the counter is fined, people read the records long enough to know that the strong smell is not at fault.”

Huyen nodded.

At the end of the market, Tung discovered that the sprinkler head in area 2 was pointing lower than designed. The mist hits the canvas roof and then gathers onto the counter instead of dispersing up the height. He requested to stop the nozzle, but had to wait for confirmation from the control center. Quynh called directly, allowed to stop for forty minutes.

As soon as the dew thins, the market smell returns layer by layer. The smell of fresh fish first, followed by wilted vegetables, fried oil, and fish sauce. Some people wore masks. Some people took deep breaths as if checking where they were. Nghi closed the counter for a minute, then opened it again.

A buyer holding a bag of fish asked: "Is the product damaged now?"

Nghi replied: “No. Now you can ask the seller, look at the fish's gills, touch the meat, smell it and keep the receipt. Safety is not the absence of odor.”

The buyer nodded, still hesitant. Doubt is not to blame. The city has been teaching them for two years that smell is something to avoid. One day cannot teach faith again.

In the afternoon, the testing laboratory sent preliminary results of batch number seven: there were no signs of spoilage. Sprayed samples and control samples have differences in surface volatile compounds, which have not been determined to affect eating quality. Huyen gave the results to Nghi.

“So can I sell it?”

“The report said there were no signs of damage. The decision to sell is yours, according to food safety regulations.”

Do read it again. “At least they don't say zero smell means clean.”

An sat nearby, writing on the map: "The market smell returned at 12:41. Chest felt easier after 12:46." Van checked him and didn't see any need for medicine. She acknowledged the condition but reminded An not to stop taking the medicine himself if the doctor prescribed it.

Tung came to ask Nghi to show him the location of the jars. She asked him if he was going to take them away.

“No. I want to measure spray direction and temperature.”

“After measuring, can I return it?”

"Have."

“Then measure it.”

He plugged the small sensor near the canvas roof. Nghi watched him do it, then asked why the system didn't know the nozzle was facing the wrong direction.

“The sensor knows the flow rate, it doesn't know which stall the mist falls on.”

“So the city measures one common thing and then makes me pay for the separate one.”

Tung replied: "That's true."

Nghi looked at him. “You said the right words too much today.”

“I'm practicing.”

At the end of the day, the inspection team left the market with a new report. There are no photos of the "smellless market" as expected. There is an appendix that states the irregular spraying system, the spraying schedule coincides with food processing time, and the need to separately evaluate the sensory impact on fermented goods.

Nghi removed the red board from the gate and cleaned the dusty paint layer. She did not delete the line "The fish sauce smells". Just add below: “Strong odors do not replace testing. But do not delete before checking investigation.”

Huyen took a photo of the board and asked permission before saving. Mrs. Nghi nodded.

On the way home, Huyen received news from Quynh: "Tomorrow there will be a meeting about the spraying schedule. Need you, Tung, Van and Nghi.”

Huyen texted back: "I will ask who is responsible for the lost smell."

Quynh replied: "I know."

The Reed River just had a day without smell, a day when the smell returned, and a batch of fish sauce was kept intact not thanks to the fragrance of advertising but thanks to those who worked hard to distinguish each layer of truth.

Nghi did not throw away the red towel that marked bottle number seven. She washes them separately, dries them under the eaves and writes the date. The niece asked why she had to keep a towel that was stained with spray smell.

“Because later someone asked when that day happened.”

“Aren't the photos enough?”

“He didn't say what his hand saw when he held it.”

Huyen heard it and suggested putting the towel in the evidence appendix of the market event. Doubt does not allow it to be taken away. She just took a photo, recorded the temperature and kept it at the counter. Data doesn't always need to leave where it was created to have value.

Quynh sent a notice of apology because the inspection team used the image of a "smellless market" without a full food assessment. Not every apology can change the damage, but this time it helps the counters not have to explain themselves that they are not anti-hygiene.

The testing laboratory later confirmed that batch number seven was not spoiled. They don't say the Clean Layer changes the quality, just note the surface sensory difference needs further research. Nghi framed the results and hung it behind the counter, next to the smell board.

“Let buyers see the unknown,” she said.

Huyen asked if a long report would turn away customers. Doubt says it's possible. But the person who just wants a certain sentence may not be the person she wants to sell fish sauce to.

At the end of the day, nozzle number 2 is lowered and changed direction. Tung created a separate assessment table for the market, not combining it with the tank area. Nghi recommends that before each spraying, someone from the market must receive the information. Quynh agreed and stipulated that the recipient of the message would be paid. The market is no longer just a sampling place. It becomes an observation point that has the authority to request a stop when conditions are unknown.