It was easier said than done though. The streets had started to be much more crowded, probably because it was getting closer to lunchtime so all the people who had came to shop, eat breakfast and eat lunch all had reunited. Of course, time traveling didn’t make Arthur’s sense of direction better either—if anything it was worse.

He was convinced he had passed by a tofu stall before buying the bamboo shoots but now that he had passed it again, he couldn’t recognize the streets nor stalls. Did he take a wrong turn? He was sure he had walked straight though—but maybe he shouldn’t trust his sense and feelings much, since it was this exact pattern of thought that had previously sent him into a well (1).

At least, the streets weren’t deserted so he could try to ask for help...if he knew how. He had previously managed to survive in Hanoi because he would specifically ask for directions from younger people who were much more likely to understand his broken Vietglish (2). Now...in this era, it was unlikely that even teenagers would know a single word of English.

So he was left on his own.

He turned the same corner a few times, coming to face the same old lady selling sweet potatoes. She had asked him if he was looking for something or if he was hesitant to buy her harvests but Arthur failed to express what he was looking for. At this point, he thought that he was, indeed, not much better than a stupid brat in an adult’s body.

While he was trying to retrace the way he came from in his mind, someone grabbed his clothes from the back. That was the worst timing to get robbed! If the thief was to steal anything, Arthur wouldn’t ever be able to find him again!! Arthur turned around to plead them to leave him alone as he had nothing on him but he was faced with a grinning old man, holding shakily onto his cane. Well, that wasn’t the thief he expected to see.

“Are you the young man who is lady Binh’s companion? She is looking for you, ho ho!”

“Where? Where is she?”, Arthur asked back. He was both relieved that he had received some help but was also quite terrified at the idea of having Binh look for him around the market like a parent would for their lost child. From what he remembers of his childhood, it never ends well either, with the parents scolding their child for running off and punishing them in a way or another.

The old man weakly pointed to the direction Arthur came from. He had probably missed her while trying to find a way in the crowd. “It wasn’t long ago, ayy. She was buying vegetables over there”, the man said.

Arthur thanked the man and rushed back there, looking for the right vegetable stall. It was hard to see as the streets became more and more crowded and his eyesight was honestly not the best without his glasses.

Once again, someone pulled on his clothes from the back.

“You’re here. Let’s go.” It was Binh. She was surprisingly nonchalant about the whole situation while Arthur absolutely panicked back there. It was hard for him to tell if he was relieved or felt extremely guilty and ashamed for having lost his way in a market. He muttered a breathy “sorry” to which Binh didn’t respond.

She led the way towards larger streets. Looking at her back, Arthur could tell she had bought a lot and even skillfully squeezed the bamboo shoots into her basket—all of it was probably really heavy and yet she kept her back as straight as ever. Arthur thought she looked really cool.

On the way Binh had bought a bunch of steamed buns and they sat down a bit further away, along the river bank, to eat them. Binh had told him that they needed to take a break because she still had a lot to do for the day.

They went to a smaller alley, where Arthur had difficulty walking through (the pole and baskets were much more unstable that it looked), that led to a small yet clear stream near which clothes were hanging to dry.

Binh put her basket down and started to sort the vegetables out. “Let’s wash them here. It’s better than the main river. At least if you drop something in here you can still walk to get it back.”

Arthur had seen a lot of aunties washing their vegetables and fruits where they had stopped to eat earlier, in what he guessed was the Red River; it was much closer to the market but this stream was much clearer, shallow and quiet.

Once they were done washing and drying them enough for the greens to not be dripping with water, they set off to the communal well where Arthur learned to fetch water. However, his ankle started to sting whenever he took some specific steps—Arthur knew he had walked a bit too much despite his injury and he wasn’t used to being barefoot in the streets, even less while carrying heavy items.

Binh was however pretty quick to notice, taking over the buckets of water while Arthur carried the vegetables on his back. Despite all the weight (and she even had the fishes in her other hand!), Binh was incredibly calm and lifted it all without any issue. Seeing this, Arthur felt bad for not being able to help more but was also impressed by Binh’s strength and patience towards him. He felt lucky—lucky to have been welcomed by such caring and kind people.

For the remaining of the day, Binh had told him to stay in his room and take a rest despite his will to help out. He felt like he was quite a burden but he didn’t want to bother them any further so Arthur obediently went back to his room and went through his sketchbook, writing new notes and scribbling a few sketches as he got bored.

Duy Anh got back home right before sunset and they had dinner together, had a few cups of tea and then everyone went back to their respective quarters to rest for the night.

1. Obviously referring to chapter 1 where he thought he had run in a straight line but fell into the well instead

2. Vietnamese-English: a mix of both languages, usually used by diasporas in English-speaking countries.