[Reading level: B2 – Upper Intermediate]
At midnight, Mrs. Kim Cuong drifts off to sleep next to her stall of mixed rice paper, leaving her customers to serve themselves, pay, and leave.
A video capturing the scene of the seller peacefully sleeping by her rice paper stall on Le Thanh Ton Street in District 1 has garnered over three million views and 5,000 comments on social media.
Many customers who have bought rice paper from Mrs. Kim Cuong say this isn’t the first time. They’ve visited her stall several times only to find her asleep, so they mix the ingredients themselves, and some even help sell to others to let her rest.
“Selling rice paper seems pretty relaxed; it’s rare to catch her awake. The rice paper is delicious, but you have to mix it yourself,” joked Lan Minh, a user. “The other day, I helped her sell for three hours and made 240,000 VND,” another person commented.
Mrs. Kim Cuong, 63, originally from Bình Định, has a husband and four children but has been living alone in Ho Chi Minh City for the past 24 years. She rents a room in Cau Ong Lanh Ward.
Every day, around 11 a.m., she starts selling her rice paper in central District 1 locations until 8 p.m., then sets up on Le Thanh Ton Street until 1 a.m., after which she goes home, sleeps for three hours, and then wakes up to buy and prepare ingredients to sell again. “That’s why I’m always sleep-deprived,” she said. Over the past four years, her health has declined, causing her to often fall asleep, especially after 11 p.m.
Some regular customers understand and don’t wake her up. They take the ingredients and mix the rice paper to their liking. The rice paper costs 20,000-30,000 VND per portion, and customers leave the money in a basket before leaving.
“At first, I felt uneasy, but I was too sleepy to get up,” she said. Most of her customers are young people out for a night on the town or office workers from nearby buildings.
She only falls asleep a few times a week, but people are surprised, record videos, and share them on social media, attracting more visitors. Over the past two years, Mrs. Cuong says she has become an unexpected celebrity.
As she dozes off, sometimes Mrs. Cương loses a basket of eggs or some pia cakes, but she considers it insignificant. Most customers leave money, and some even leave more than the cost of what they buy.
When she’s too sleepy and “can’t hold on any longer,” Mrs. Cương asks familiar customers to watch her stall for two to three hours while she takes a nap on the steps of a nearby park.
One of these regular customers is Truc Quyen, who lives in District 5. Last year, Quyen was out late and happened to come across the rice paper stall, so she decided to try it and found it delicious. She said that Mrs. Cuong was awake the first two times she visited, but by the third time, she found her asleep. Quyen didn’t want to wake her, so she asked her husband to mix the rice paper himself. After becoming a regular, Quyen would often help sell when she found Mrs. Cuong asleep. “I feel for her; she works so hard all day,” Quyên said. “I eat and help sell her goods as a way of giving her a little support.”
Tin, who sells goods next to Mrs. Cuong, said she has been selling mixed rice paper in this area for over a decade. Locals often call her “Mrs. Black” because of her tanned skin. Her habit of dozing off is genuine; she’s not acting. Because she is so honest and straightforward, some customers feel compassion and help her out.
Last month, Mrs. Cuong said she was so sleepy that she took a 30-minute nap on the steps in front of Vincom Đong Khoi in District 1. When she woke up, she found that someone had draped a jacket over her. A nearby drink vendor said that a boy walking by had seen her and felt sorry for her, so he covered her up.
“I see that there are kind people everywhere,” she said.
Source: https://vnexpress.net/bong-dung-noi-tieng-vi-ngu-gat-trong-khi-ban-hang-4775895.html
WORD BANK:
drift off to sleep [C2] (v): chìm vào giấc ngủ
stall /stɑːl/ [B1] (n): gánh, quầy
garner /ˈɡɑːr.nɚ/ (v): thu hút, nhận được (sự chú ý)
ingredient /ɪnˈɡriː.di.ənt/ (n): nguyên liệu
set up (v): cố định ở một vị trí
sleep-deprived /ˈsliːp dɪˌpraɪvd/ (adj): bị thiếu ngủ
to one’s liking (adv): theo ý thích của ai đó
portion /ˈpɔːr.ʃən/ [C1] (n): suất, phần
uneasy (adj): ngại ngùng, không thoải mái
celebrity /ʌnˈiː.zi/ [B2] (n): người nổi tiếng
doze off /doʊz/ (v – informal): ngủ quên
tanned skin /tænd/ (n): làn da rám nắng
genuine /ˈdʒen.ju.ɪn/ [B2] (adj): thật
straightforward /ˌstreɪtˈfɔːr.wɚd/ (adj): thẳng thắn
compassion /kəmˈpæʃ.ən/ (n): sự cảm thông
drape /dreɪp/ (v): khoác lên, đắp lên
vendor /ˈven.dɚ/ (n): người bán hàng rong
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