People often ignore or underestimate or even forget what they are given. But what I was given by Ma Chanh- an additional cigarette- is unforgetable.
I started smoking at the age of 9 since my Dad left us. Blue, red Bastos, Bastos Lux and Ara were my brother’s and my favorite while watching Kungfu film in the mid 1960s. “Nhu Lai Than Chuong” was the first film we watched as we finished smoking half of a package till the end of the film. When my Mom had an evening shift- not having dinner- I cut half of my going-to the market budget so we could enjoy a film as well as smoking. In an early morning of Agu 28th, 1971, while gathering at HAU BAO’s to prepare for our trip to Bao Loc, I silently stopped smoking. That may make everyone at our school take off his or her hat to praise me, especially Teacher Sau Rau. The cold rainy days, homesickness, coffee invitations, my classmates’mocking or stimulating, the festivals or crisis took no effect on my determination of stopping smoking. That probably was why they named me THANH XI or that was part of what I should talk about myself. I went to Thu Duc University of Technical Education as a nice good student- no smoking nor having coffee.
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