The whistle on Cot Min Mountain resounded, signaling a new day. The weather was November, early winter, a bit cold. At dawn, the mine streets were packed with people, they did not go upstairs to the furnace as usual, they huddled around the posters that had been pasted on the walls for a long time:
"Brothers and sisters!
We work hard, but our wages are not enough to live on. We don't want to starve or die of illness.
So let's all strike.
Demand the owner to raise the salary to thirty cents a day
Ask the owner to give you a pickaxe and shovel.
Brothers and sisters, let us be united, do not let anyone break our struggle, do not fall for their provocations. With discipline and unity we will win."
The group of people shivered as they went up to the house of the owner, Hamza Thomas. He had just woken up, in his pajamas, dark blue stripes, a cup of filter coffee on the table dripping, preparing for breakfast. Cai Bong knocked on the door, entered, bowed low in the doorway, and reported:
- Sir, the mine workers are on strike and refuse to go to work.
- What did you say?
Afraid that the boss wouldn't understand, he repeated in French.
- The mine workers are on strike and refuse to go to work.
- You put up with them? Get the workers to fix it. Bastards.
- Yes... sir...
- Still there? Mercedes.
The stream of workmen from the alleys poured into the main street, and they approached the slope of the civil agent Camfa min Bonnet's house.
Cai Bong came out of the mine owner's house with a cane, and walked quickly and aggressively up to the entrance of Lo Tri mine, followed by five or seven workers. At the top of the slope, Tai Phong, a hammer driller, and a few others holding hammers, knives, and sticks, saw Cai Bong and the workers coming up. Tai Phong said loudly:
- Guys! Let's go home, there's a strike.
Cai Bong stared at Tai Phong:
- Hey, Phong, you dare to rebel?
Cai Bong turned back to surround the workers, not letting them run down. Everyone pushed and shoved, Tai Phong happily said to his brothers:
- Hey guys, we are all in rags, let's go back and ask for money and rice from the boss!
The group of workers who went with Tai Phong shouted together:
- Come home, guys! Come home.
Everyone rushed away, in front of everyone's momentum, the group of workers following foreman Bong also returned, leaving him alone, he mumbled:
- Damn it!
The group of workers rumbled towards the house of the first owner, Hamza Thomas. The long street ran straight to the door of the first owner's house. Thomas slammed the door, went back inside and turned on the phone:
- Hello, where is Chief of Secret Service Bellas? The coolies are on strike and need immediate help.
The strikers had now surrounded Thomas's house. On the coal floors; shaft forty; shaft twenty-seven; shaft number two, there was no one, only the lonely wagons, the loose and disorderly tracks. The door of the Lo Tri mine was silent, dark and terrifying. The belts, tangled in the screening house, slowed down and stopped. People hurriedly left to go on strike. On the Portich bridge outside the harbor, coal wagons were hanging. Driverless. Everything, everything became dead scenes and bare piles of scrap metal...
After a day, darkness fell, countless flickering fires ran along the sidewalks. The soccer field (Terain de Sports) was packed with people, they set up small stoves made of three bricks, cooked and slept there tonight. Uncle Cao placed his pho stall right at the entrance, smoke billowed up, the aroma was enticing. Whoever ate, ate, had money, paid, if not, it was still fun. Mrs. Van did not sell noodles for fear of being overcharged, so she turned to cook banh duc, Ms. Tram was pregnant, waddling her load for her. Each person had a plate, and they just ate. The entire soccer field was noisy and bustling. A group sang Vi Dam; a group sang Ho Bien; a group sang Trong Quan, Co La. Uncle Soan, who was originally a Cheo singer, brought out his erhu to play. They sang:
Up the long straight slope
The pass is high, so be patient and climb the stairs.
Drizzle and strong north wind
Let's work hard together.
Misses Cam, Binh and Huong, playing the guitar, joined in singing:
Eat a meal with husband
Sleep with husband at midnight
Two meals a day
What more powdered cheeks and black teeth, my dear!
Climbing mountains twice a day
What is beautiful and crispy, brother?
The guy Chuan ran in and said:
Every day he still goes to work
Go through the machine shop, pick up some bolts
Bring it home and put it in the box
You weigh, you tael is still less than a coin
He brought her a ring and earrings.
People pull silver, pull gold
I will pull iron for you, my dear!
All optimistic, punching each other and laughing all night long...
The next morning, at the foot of the hill, on the balcony of the mine owner's house, Bonnet, Bellas and Thomas stood around, talking gibberish, Vietnamese sausage, who could understand. Below the gate stood Chief Bong and several other supervisors, with soldiers behind them. Chief Bong stomped his cane on the ground and shouted:
- Listen, everyone! The boss has agreed to raise the workers' wages to two and a half cents, which is four cents. Everyone, get back to your places. Get to work!
Thousands of people protested, shouting:
- No, we must be given a three cent raise and hoes and shovels before we go to work.
Cai Bong said with a strained neck:
- Stubborn, the boss says so!
All exclaimed again:
- Ask the boss to come out here, we will meet.
- Beat the hell out of it.
Someone's voice, from afar, shouted.
So the whole group rushed in and dragged Cai Bong away. Several open-top military vehicles stopped, and the soldiers under the command of Colonel Bataille and the station chief Be Lanh, bayonets drawn, jumped out of the vehicles, quickly followed a horizontal formation, and together with the horsemen, advanced into the strikers. Luc and Tai Phong divided themselves to push through the crowd, reminding one person and continuing to pass on:
"No violence, the soldiers have an excuse to massacre the strike. Release Cai Bong immediately."
Everyone let go of the guard, he ran away, his clothes disheveled.
The soldiers of the station lined up in two rows, pushing through the strikers. Walking between the two rows of soldiers were Chief of the Secret Service Bellas and the evil bosses from Hanoi who had rushed down, such as the political inspector, the governor of Tonkin, Denxallo; Chief of the Secret Service of Tonkin, Ac Ma; especially Hong Khanh, the director of the provincial governor's office. All of them walked slowly and heavily, their eyes were sinister and owl-like, staring at each worker's face. Seeing Chief of the Station Belanh, Luc pushed Mrs. Van, Cam, Binh and Huong back, afraid that he would remember the faces of the day he searched for and arrested Uncle Van and Ngo Huy Tang. He hated the most that he had surrounded the door of Lo Tri kiln for two days without being able to catch Hao. He wanted to catch Luc but had no basis, now if Luc spoke loudly he would catch him immediately, so Luc always had to stand still in the middle of the crowd. From afar, Cam saw Hong Khanh's face, she was scared pale, lowered her body a little, pulled her hat over her face, stood still and watched every step they took. Images of Hong Khanh in the countryside a few years ago appeared very quickly...
Hong Khanh, son of Ba Kinh, was notorious in the region for his cruel lifestyle. All the girls in the village had to go through his hands before they could get married. If not, they had to serve his family for the rest of their lives. Cam was a beautiful girl, he eagerly chased her, took her parents as hostages. Cam still resolutely refused. That time, he hid in the bamboo bushes, waited for Cam to come back from pulling rice seedlings, then pushed her out to catch her. Cam resisted, fell into a deep pond, hit a stake, and drank her fill. Cam shouted and ran away, kept going, sneaking through the forest, through the stream until she reached Camfa port, asked to be a scullery worker in the ship's hold, the hardest, most arduous job that no one else did.
So Hong Khanh is still alive, he appeared here, still as evil as ever. Scary!
The whole group was silent, a compressed silence. The deeper the spring was compressed, the higher it bounced.
The officials and soldiers of the garrison marched aggressively towards the mine owner's house and Agent Bonnet. Cai Bong escaped death, ran breathlessly towards the officials, bowed down, clasped his hands and bowed like old Ho Than in the Chinese movie "The Hunchbacked Prime Minister".
- Dear sir!
The officers recognized him and nodded. Chief Secret Service agent Bellas hit him on the back with his baton. Waiting for them to pass, Bong joined them, baring his yellowed tooth, and strutting along at the back.
Many of the workers turned away, looking disdainful. Several old women spat betel juice on the ground.
Back at the Agency office, everyone gathered around the round table in the middle of the house, holding a meeting. Ac Ma, the Chief of the Northern Secret Service, clenched his fist and pounded on the table, saying to Bellas:
- We must arrest the strike leaders immediately! Do you know who they are?
Bellas:
- I'm investigating.
Ac Ma, angry:
- This is terrible, how long will the investigation last? Today is the third day.
Darkel:
- Right! Arrest. Eliminate all the leaders. As for the main boss Hamza Thomas, he must recalculate, release their demands, and then strangle them later, not this time!
Hamza Thomas:
- Can't we increase the salary of coolies by three cents, will our French coffers be empty?
Dexallo turned back to Agent Bonnet and said:
- Order, close all shops, stores. Especially rice, food. Hungry! They have to go to work.
All was silent, heavy... (continued)
(Title of excerpt given by Lao Dong)
