Chapter 17: Chapter 17 The first sweet fruit of the season — Where the Sun Returns

Three weeks after the flood, Uncle Bảy's village chief's organic test plot entered its first day of harvest.

The whole village of Đồi Thông came together to watch as a festival. On that small plot of land, the rows of spinach, green beans and winter squash are not as beautiful as the sprayed vegetable beds of other households, but are green and healthy, with no signs of wilting even though they just went through the recent flood.

Uncle Bảy stood in the middle of the field, holding a notebook to record expenses that Phong had instructed him to meticulously record throughout the entire crop. His voice trembled with emotion as he announced it to his people.

"I've been farming for decades, and I've never seen a number that surprised me so much," Uncle Bảy said loudly, holding up the notebook. "The yield on this land is about fifteen percent lower than my sprayed field. But thanks to Ms. Miên paying for it at twice the market price, plus not having to spend money on pesticides, herbicides, or chemical fertilizers, my net profit this crop is thirty percent higher than doing it the old way!"

Murmurs arose throughout the crowd. Many old farmers who were skeptical before now crowded together close to the vegetable patch, picked up a handful of soil and tried it, some even tried to pluck a cabbage leaf and put it in their mouth to chew, nodding and appreciating the natural sweetness without any chemical aftertaste.

A few children in the village crowded to the front, curiously touching the round melons, competing to guess which fruit was the heaviest. The clear laughter of the children mixed with the bustling atmosphere of the results announcement, making the small earthen scene suddenly become bustling like a real festival.

"Thirty percent?" An elderly farmer in the village stepped forward to ask, his voice filled with both skepticism and excitement. "So it's really less work but more profit, Uncle Bảy?"

"It's more difficult in terms of initial effort, because you have to manually catch worms and compost them, which takes more effort," Uncle Bảy answered honestly. "But in the long run, the land won't be degraded, and my health won't have to inhale toxic pesticides every day. I'm old now, and now I can truly understand the saying 'what lasts depends on the person' that Mr. Phong often says."

Ms. Tu stood at the edge of the crowd, silently observing from beginning to end, not intervening in the discussion as usual. When everyone gradually dispersed, she quietly approached Phong, her voice no longer containing the familiar sarcasm.

"Mr. Phong," Mrs. Tu cleared her throat, her eyes looking down at her calloused hands. "Next season, she wants to try converting a third of her house's land to do it your way. She's old and doesn't dare to risk it all, but looking at Mr. Bảy's plot of land, she has to think again."

Phong couldn't hide his surprise. This is the person who most strongly opposed his model, the person who advised him to buy the pesticide "Black Skull" right from the first days. "I'm very happy that you made that decision. I will guide you wholeheartedly, without any additional costs." Mrs. Tu nodded, then turned to Miên, her voice suddenly lowered. "That girl, the other day when the flood came, she saw the two of them risking their lives to dive into the water to save the common dyke. She was also very guilty. Before, she thought they were doing it for fun, but now she knows they're doing it for real, they really live and die with this job."

Miên smiled and held Mrs. Tu's calloused hand. "Thank you for your trust. With your participation, we are much more confident."

Miên stood silently watching Uncle Bảy excitedly show off his notebook to the surrounding neighbors, her heart filled with an indescribable happiness. She remembered the stormy village meeting a few months ago, remembered the skeptical eyes of the old farmers when she stood on the podium pledging to make up for her losses one hundred percent. Now, it is the actual numbers, not empty words, that have proven the value that she and Phong pursue.

"You see," Phong said softly in her ear, his eyes shining with a pride that was rarely evident. "Sometimes, the thing that convinces people most strongly is not a scientific theory, but a small plot of land proven by its own truth."

"It's because you persevered for months guiding Uncle Bảy little by little," Miên replied, gently nudging his shoulder. "I'm only good at high-priced offtakes, and the main credit goes to the agricultural engineer."

The two looked at each other and smiled. In that moment, all the tiredness accumulated during the days of cleaning up after the flood seemed to disappear, giving way to a firm belief that the road they were on, although bumpy, was finally leading to the first sweet fruits.

News about the success of the test pole quickly spread throughout Đồi Thông village, and was even shared by a few people on local social networking groups with images taken and edited by Miên herself. The number of households registering to participate in the conversion model increased rapidly, from Uncle Bảy's initial one acres, there are now five other households who have expressed interest in testing for the next crop.

That evening, while Miên and Phong were recalculating their plan to expand the organic raw material area for the whole village, a strange call rang out on Miên's phone. On the other end of the line was a polite, professional woman's voice.

"Hello Ms. Mộc Miên, I am Ms. Hà's assistant, Project Development Director of Việt Xanh Group. Ms. Hà is very impressed with the Mộc Trại model and looks forward to meeting you directly to discuss a major cooperation opportunity related to the Đá Bàn valley area."

Miên was stunned, her hand holding the phone stopped in mid-air. The name "Ms. Hà" rang out from the other end of the line like a warning bell, confirming the hunch she had suspected for the past few weeks since the night she surfed the web to learn about this corporation.

"Excuse me, can you tell me more about the content of the meeting?" Miên tried to keep her voice calm, even though her heart was racing.

"This is a large-scale project, I think it would be more satisfactory to discuss in person," the assistant replied tactfully. "Ms. Hà will directly visit the area next week. I hope you can arrange the time."

The call ended, Miên put the phone down on the table, her hands shaking a bit. Phong looked at her and recognized her strange expression immediately.

"Who called? You don't look good," Phong asked, his voice worried.

Miên took a deep breath and recounted everything she had discovered about Việt Xanh Group, about Ms. Hà's name on the leadership list, and the phone call just now. Phong listened silently, his face gradually becoming serious.

"So the person who pushed you to the end in the city has now come here," Phong said in a low voice, his hand tightening. "Do you think this is a coincidence?"

"I don't know," Miên shook her head, her eyes looking out at the dark garden outside, where the vegetable beds that had just been re-sown after the flood were slowly reviving. "But I have a very bad feeling that the big cooperation opportunity they talk about is not as simple as what they say."

Mrs. Tám was sitting with betel in the corner of the room. She had been silently listening to the story of the two children. Now she spoke, her voice full of thoughtfulness and experience of someone who had lived through many changes in this land. "I heard that a few years ago, there was a corporation that also came to the area below the district, making many promises to the people. In the end, after purchasing the land, it was abandoned for a year without doing anything. The people lost the land but got nothing. Be careful, don't be so quick to believe people's sweet words because of the difficulties in front of you."

Grandma's advice made the atmosphere in the room become quieter. Miên looked at Phong and saw that he was also pensive, his eyes looking out the dark window, in the distance, the lights of Đá Bàn town flickered as a reminder that the vast world out there is still constantly moving, bringing both unpredictable opportunities and dangers.

"No matter what they suggest, we must listen clearly before deciding," Phong said, his voice regaining its usual calmness. "At the very least, meeting face to face will help us know exactly what they are planning."

"Yes," Miên nodded, but in her heart, the name "Ms. Hà" kept echoing endlessly, bringing with it a whole world of memories that she thought had been buried forever after her resignation letter last year.

She looked down at her calloused hands, then looked at Phong who was pensive next to her, wondering if the upcoming meeting would open up a real opportunity for cooperation, or just be the prelude to a new war that she was not mentally prepared to face.

Outside, a cold wind suddenly blew through, shaking the leaves that were still wet with dew, like a vague omen for the storms to come, even more intense than any natural disaster they had ever experienced.