Master
grew up in Au Lac. She had a father who was a doctor with very good
medical skills. Diseases that could not be treated by other doctors
were successfully treated by him. He was also very compassionate. Very
often, poor patients were not charged. After the patients recovered
from their illnesses, they often expressed their gratitude to him by
sending him sugarcane, sweet potatoes, vegetables and various local
products which they had grown themselves.
Master's
mother was kind, wise, diligent and quick in her work. Apart from looking
after the family, she was also successful in doing some business. Therefore,
the whole family had an affluent, stable and calm life.
One
day, someone suddenly wrongly accused Master's father of being involved
in political activities. Quickly, Her father was locked up for investigation.
The investigating officers could not find any evidence linking him to
the political activities, despite repeated attempts. However, he was
not released, but continued to be kept in prison.
At
that time, Master and Her mother often took some food and solace to
Her father when they visited him. Seeing that Her father was physically
hurt and had lost his freedom, Master was deeply grieved. She understood
very well that Her father, who only practiced medicine to save people,
was unjustly accused.
After
going home, whenever She met someone She could talk to, She would tell
them that Her father was innocent and was a victim of a wrong accusation.
Although they could not possibly help in any way, it did show Master's
love for Her parents and courage to speak and fight for justice, even
when She was still young.
During
this time, Her pregnant mother was due to give birth. Unfortunately
at that time, they were cheated in business and lost all their money.
Furthermore, after giving birth to her younger sister, her mother did
not receive good care and developed postnatal complications. Fluid accumulated
in her abdomen so it became quite distended. It was very painful and
there was no money to seek treatment from any doctor.
At
only nine years old, apart from looking after Her sick mother and helping
to look after the newborn baby, Master also had to go to the market
to buy food. Because of a lack of money, She could only buy a few vegetables
each day. Life was really very hard.
On
the third day, seeing that Her mother was groaning in pain, that Her
sister was weak and had no one to look after her, that there was no
money at home, that She was still young, and that Her father had lost
his freedom, Master knew that if everything continued there would be
no hope for Her family. Therefore, She decided to get Her father home.
At
that time, Her father was sent to a larger prison, very far away from
their home. The determined Master, with Her little body which experienced
travel sickness, managed to reach Her destination after changing vehicles
several times. She spoke to the guard at the gate, telling him of the
difficulties at home and of Her wish to see the superintendent of the
prison so She could beg him to release Her father because he was innocent.
The
guard at the gate was very sympathetic to Master's situation. He asked
Master to wait and said he would tell the superintendent. However, time
kept passing. Eventually, the greatly anxious Master could not help
but cry out. She cried and made a lot of noise about wanting to see
the superintendent to ask him to release Her father. Finally, Her crying
was heard by the passing superintendent who came over and asked what
had happened.
The
superintendent listened carefully to the small, but very lovely little
girl that stood before him. This little girl told of Her father's injustice,
of the seriously ill mother with no money to seek treatment, of a younger
sister born only three days ago with no one to look after her, and that
she was still so young. She begged the superintendent to release Her
father so he could take care of the family.
The
young and friendly superintendent was deeply moved after listening to
Her. Looking at this dust covered girl - only nine years old yet courageous
enough to take on a long trip alone, he said: "I'll ask someone
to bring Your father here immediately."
On
seeing that Master's father was very scholarly, and after reviewing
the records, the superintendent understood that there must have been
some mistake. He immediately released Her father by granting him twenty-four
hours freedom to go home to take care of the family, but then he had
to report back to the prison.
The
superintendent jokingly remarked that Master should stay behind as a
hostage until Her father returned. Master immediately replied: "
I am useless for you here. My age is too young. Besides, I have to go
back to take care of mother and my younger sister. I cannot stay."
After listening to this, the superintendent laughed and agreed that
Master could go home together with Her father.
With
very good medical expertise, Her father treated Her mother's illness
immediately when he got home so that her condition improved rapidly.
After dealing with all the family problems, Master's father went back
to prison on time.
After
a few days, Master's father was suddenly released unconditionally. In
order to show their gratitude and to remember the upright and compassionate
superintendent, Master's parents used the superintendent's name, "Quang
Trung" (*),
to name Her newly born little sister.
From
this story, we know that although Master was young at that time, with
a pure and sincere loving heart toward Her parents and courage, She
was able to move human beings and heaven to make the superintendent
become a good tool of God to help Her family reunite and have a bright
future together.
*
Quang Trung is a boy's name. In Au Lac especially, only a boy is given
this name, never a girl. Just like in America, John is a boy's name.
It was solely out of gratitude that Master's parents gave the youngest
sister this name.
