Summary

Six months after Hang’s father leaves her mother and the village, her mother leaves for Hanoi and becomes a street vendor. Hang is born ten years after her mother’s move to Hanoi. In Hanoi, Hang attends school and her mother continues to sell foodstuffs out of a cart. She makes very little money, but they get by with the help of neighbors and friends. One day, when Hang is eight, Uncle Chinh shows up and demands his half of the mortgage from the sale of the ancestral house that was their parents. He also tells Hang’s mother she needs to quit being a street vendor and become a secretary and join the movement. Hang’s mother says she’ll think about it even though she does not want to do it. Instead, she agrees to travel to the village to get his money...