Her husband left her for a young woman working in tourism, leaving Mai with three young children and a dilapidated house, but then..

Mai’s husband left on a day at the end of the rainy season, without a word of goodbye. He left only a hastily folded note on the cold dining table:

“I’m sorry. I’m so tired. I need to live my own life.”

Rumor has it he left for a young girl, a tour guide – white skin, wavy hair, fond of taking photos and living a virtual life. Ms. Mai no longer cared. What she cared about at that time was  her three children  – the oldest was in 6th grade, the youngest was still in diapers.

The shabby house is located on the edge of the village. Every time it rains, the  roof leaks from the wall to the ceiling . Seeing the scene of a mother and her four children gathering a large basin under the bed to catch water, the eldest child holding a broom to cover the mother while she cooks, makes people  feel so sorry that they cry .

**

Ms. Mai started with all kinds of jobs:
– Waking up at 4am to wrap coconut leaf cakes to sell at the market.
– Working as a kitchen assistant at a restaurant at noon.
– In the evening, collecting  scrap metal and mending old things for neighbors  to earn a few extra bucks.

I only sleep about 3 hours a day.

Neighbors asked why she didn’t send her child to her husband’s family. She smiled:

– If he leaves me and my child, then I have to be the father. What’s the point of sending him?

10 years passed by quickly.

Mai’s hair is gradually turning grey, but  the old roof has been replaced with a new , sturdy one. The youngest child studies well and has received a provincial scholarship. The eldest child has been a construction worker since he was 17 and is now studying electricity,  earning money to help his mother repair the old kitchen .

One spring afternoon, when everything was peaceful,  her ex-husband suddenly returned . He was haggard and emaciated, after being abandoned by the young girl with nothing. He stood at the gate, looked at his three grown children, then turned to Ms. Mai, hesitantly:

– I’m sorry… I have nothing left.

Mai said nothing. She poured him a glass of water, just like she had when he was still her husband, then said softly:

– Now that you’re home, go slow. Don’t cause any more trouble. The kids need peace, not another father.

That evening, she sat drying her hair by the stove, her youngest daughter asked:

– Mom, what if you had fallen down in the past?

She stroked her child’s hair and smiled:

– Maybe no one is sitting here today. But I believe one thing…
No matter how strong the wind is, it cannot blow down a mother who stands for her children.