Hwang Sok-Yong - The Shadow of Arms

“No, I don’t.” It was an honest answer. “Except. .” Minh went on, “I can tell she’s a good woman, but… she’s not your type. How do I put it… She seems temporary.”

“Temporary?”

“Like a soldier’s lover at a new post. That’s probably how she thinks of you, too. She doesn’t look like a woman who would lie.”

“Mimi said I should find a job for you. When I asked whether you had put her up to the request, she said you’re too proud to spill your guts. . that’s a feature you and I share, she said. You seemed to have made a good impression on her.”

“I’m glad to hear that,” Minh said truthfully. “A year is a long, boring hour. If all I do is hang around at home, I’m not sure I won’t do something silly again. I want to make some money, too. Until I go abroad to study, until I leave this country, I want to work and earn my travel expenses on my own.”

“I understand. I’ve thought it over, and I think you can be of some help to me. There’s somewhere I want you to come with me… so you want a job?”

“I’ll do any kind of work.”

Minh peered up at his brother, who avoided his gaze and replied, “Get the family to accept Mimi as one of us. Talk to Lei, to begin with. I’m sure you can change her mind. If you and Lei are on my side, Mother in time will soften. As for sister Mi, I don’t care either way. You only need to earn enough for your own spending money. I’ll take care of the family and all other expenses we’ll need. As I told you, before two years pass we’ll be out of this loathsome place. We’ll be living in a foreign country.”

“She’s become your wife, and now has Vietnamese nationality. But I don’t think she loves you. I’m only following your wishes. Our family is all on your side. Your heart is now set on her, but you never know how long it’ll last. I’ll treat her as my sister-in-law. Will that satisfy you?”

“I want Lei to do the same.”

“I know. She’ll change her attitude in time.”

“I’d like you to help me with my work. I’m dealing with a merchant, Nguyen Cuong, in old Le Loi market. He’s in charge of all the trading for the provincial government office, including purchases. From now on I’ll have a lot of gigantic transactions with him. We have two enormous projects underway, and they’ll probably change the fate of this family.”

“What business is that?”

“One is the phoenix hamlets project for the entire Quang Nam Province. The other is cinnamon. We’ll be building three hundred new hamlets and resettling people in them. It’s the last chance for the general as well as for me. Soon the general will have to take off his uniform. He may need me even after he joins the Saigon government, but when that happens he and I may take separate roads, you never know. He’ll have plenty of secretaries available in Saigon, some more capable and with better connections than me.

“Anyway, I would hate to let this other opportunity slip through my fingers. You know that cinnamon grows in abundance on the far side of the highlands? I’ll issue an operations order and promote a pacification program in the cinnamon region. That way I’ll corner the market on a traditional Central Vietnamese commodity that has grown scarce due to the war. With those two projects alone, I can easily make more than a million dollars in one year. Of course, the general’s share will be greater.”

With wide eyes and big gestures, Quyen went on bragging to his younger brother. He firmly believed that Minh was now on his side and that he would come over to his advantageous position of his own accord.

“How can I help you?”

“Well, I’ve already spoken to Cuong on the phone. I asked him to let you work in his office as my representative. He agreed. Your job will be simple enough. When the goods are delivered to him under my instructions, you’ll help him with the sales, checking that the payments agree with the prices negotiated in advance, and making rounds for collections in his stead. That’s all. I’m sure you’ll be able to handle the detail work. Now, come with me to see Cuong.”

Though inside he was greatly pleased, Minh showed no sign of excitement and instead asked in a monotone, “And what sort of salary will I get?”

“Kid, the salary is not the point. This is our family business. If you need money, you can request all the money you want after checking accounts for the transactions, as long as you don’t squander it.”

They left the house together in high spirits and drove to Le Loi market. They passed through the alley and the line of vendors along the parking lot, on the inner edge of which there stood a brick building that Minh knew well. It was the same building Uncle Nguyen Thach had guided them to on the night Minh returned to Da Nang. Quyen opened the sliding glass door and went in first. A female clerk rose from her seat and bowed. Nguyen Cuong gestured for the two of them to sit down.

“This is my little brother.”

“Ah, you look very different from your big brother. I’m Nguyen.”

“I’m Pham Minh.”

“Well, what do you say? Had any experience with business?”

“We’re sons of a family that used to run Da Nang’s biggest medicinal herb house,” Quyen said.

“True, I knew your late father very well. A man of excellent business tact, he was.”

“In business it’s less a question of tact than of trust.”

“But of course,” Nguyen said, chuckling. “Trust comes first and foremost for a tactful merchant in dealing with others.”

Then he turned to Minh and said, “There’s not a whole lot for you to do, Mr. Pham Minh. For starters you’ll work in my warehouse and be in charge of checking the incoming and outgoing flows of stock. Later, you can keep an eye on our transport connections, since our trucks are sent on a lot of runs outside the city.”

“Is the warehouse across the river still operating?” Quyen asked.

“Major, you should know that better than I,” Nguyen said with a grin. “Once the cinnamon starts flowing in, that warehouse will be extremely useful. The goods will head straight to the pier from there.”

“I’ll have everything set within two months.”

“Let’s go out to the warehouse.”

Nguyen got up first and walked out through the back door, then down a pathway that led to the side gate of the brick building. Minh remembered that he had used that side gate to enter the warehouse. When Cuong opened the aluminum door, the workers who had been moving goods out through the main entrance bowed to the owner. Cuong summoned a sturdy-looking man in shorts.

“This is Mr. Pham Minh. He’ll be your immediate superior. Mr. Pham Minh, this is our foreman.”

The man bowed politely and Minh extended his hand to shake. Inside the warehouse there were piled heaps of rice, cement, fertilizer, slate slabs, and plywood sheets. The workers had been lugging big sacks of fertilizer outside and loading them on a waiting truck.

“This fertilizer just came off the pier yesterday. We’re shipping it out to Quang Nai.”

“So his job will be to manage and release the goods here?” asked Pham Quyen.

“It’s best to start with that so he can get a feel for the business,” Cuong replied.

“Well, what do you think?” Quyen asked Minh.

“Fine, I’ll give it a try,” Minh answered.

Upon their return to the office, Nguyen Thach was waiting for them. He glanced at Pham Minh and greeted Pham Quyen with a smile.

“Ah, Major, long time no see, sir.”

“What brings you here?” asked Thach’s older brother, Cuong.

Thach scratched his head and said, “Well, there’s a payment I need to make today, and I’m a little short on cash.”

“How much?”