At last I managed to get a job teaching at a secondary school about fifteen kilometres away from home. The distance was nearly the same as between my house and the town.
“What? You’ve accepted it, have you?” asked Aunt Thuong.
“What else can I do?,” I answered.
An, my sweetheart, was not surprised when I told him of my decision. “I see. In our lifetime, we always cherish such an illusion,” he said. I was offended, but he only smiled. “I intend that I’ll work for some time, say one or two years. When we’re qualified enough, we’ll get married,” I said. “Ah, a member of the intelligentsia!,” aunt remarked sarcastically. “You are showing your scholar’s pride, are you?” She had reason to be bitter, because I had turned down her offer of help – work for a foreign firm with a good salary.
“Not that. I only want …,” I began.
“Let it be,” she interrupted. “Life will teach you to be self-reliant very early. But what about your darling? What is his opinion?” “For the time being, we’ll have to be away from each other for some time. Whenever both of us find that we’re able to live together, we’ll … ,” I answered.
“How romantic you are!” I brought our conversation to an end because I knew that it would lead to a quarrel. I still felt sad that she’d turned a deaf ear to my explanation.