At 7:30 pm, the small house in Hop Kim commune, Phu Tho province was lit up. On the tray of rice, the bowl of mustard green soup had just been reheated, and the plate of fried eggs had cooled down.
Ms. Bui Thi Hanh cooks rice for her 3rd grade daughter, occasionally looking out the gate. Her husband, Mr. Bui Van Nam, has not returned yet.
Mr. Nam and Ms. Hanh work as workers at a factory in Ha Nam. But one work the day shift, one work the night shift.
When she finishes work and rushes home to prepare meals for her children, he prepares to start his shift. Early in the morning, when she rushes to the car to go to work, her husband takes the opportunity to nap after a night of working.
There are weeks when the whole family only has time to sit together for a proper meal on a day off. On normal days, one person goes, the other comes, and the hours are always different," Ms. Hanh said.
In mountainous areas, this is not an isolated story. Many young workers leave their hometowns every day to go to industrial parks to work, dozens to hundreds of kilometers away from home.
A stable job helps them have better income, children are taken care of more fully, but in return, time spent on family is divided into small shifts.
Your daughter is 9 years old this year. Initially, she often asked why her father didn't eat rice with her and her children, why she didn't see her mother when she woke up in the morning.
But over time, she learned to get used to the rhythm of family life, even knew how to remind her mother to share rice with her father, or voluntarily prepare books from the previous night so that her mother would be less rushed in the morning.
Ms. Hanh said that what makes her most sad is that sometimes the two of them live in the same house but exchange with each other mainly through text messages. From tuition fees for children, electricity and water bills, work schedules, and medicine for both parents.
Many days thinking about it is also sad. But on the contrary, my husband and I also learn to love each other more, sympathize with each other more because everyone is trying for the family," she said.
Mr. Nam said that he is used to eating rice alone late at night. The rice portion is divided by his wife, sometimes it is still warm, sometimes he turns on the stove himself to warm it up.
But for him, the fact that his wife always keeps food ready, his daughter still sleeps and leaves a small piece of paper "Dad, eat rice", is already a consolation after a long day of filming.
In that small house, the phone is both a tool to close the gap. Husband and wife text each other about shift schedules, remind each other about breakfast money for their children, and send each other photos of their children with good scores.
Working is really hard, but thinking about income being more stable than before, children being properly educated, parents on both sides being less worried, I have motivation.
My family rarely has a full dinner, but in return, we still try to keep breakfast together when possible, or on weekends, the whole family sits and eats longer," Mr. Nam shared.
