When talking about Mr. Quoc Thai, the neighbors all feel sorry for his situation as a single father raising children. In 2021, Mr. Thai's wife passed away during the Covid-19 pandemic. He quit his job as a driver to spend time taking care of his children and taking over the family-owned vermicelli soup restaurant.

Wife's lifelong passion

Before selling vermicelli soup to replace his wife, Mr. Thai worked as a driver. He said that traveling was his dream since he was a child. When the incident happened to his family, he had to choose between continuing to pursue his passion or prioritizing his family.

This “nameless” vermicelli soup restaurant is the life’s work of Mr. Quoc Thai’s wife. When she was alive, she took care of the restaurant, but on days when there were no customers, she would worry about “is it because the seasoning is not good today” or “is the food not to the customers’ liking today”.

Loving his wife and children, and worried that no one would take care of his wife's beloved vermicelli soup shop, he decided to quit his job and "go home".

Every day, Mr. Thai's restaurant sells about 200 bowls of vermicelli soup with crab. To ensure the quality and retain the flavor of his wife's cooking, Mr. Thai personally prepares all the ingredients and seasonings. He said that to have fresh meat and vegetables, he and his mother-in-law have to go to the market early and carefully select each type.

At first, when he took over the crab noodle shop, Mr. Thai encountered many difficulties. From a man who drove "all over the road" he now became a crab noodle seller raising 3 children. "At first, I felt embarrassed with the job I was doing. There were some nights when I lay down to sleep, I missed the steering wheel, I missed the image of my family reunited, waiting for me to come home for dinner after each trip," Mr. Thai confided.

Ms. LMX (53 years old, District 6), a close relative of Mr. Thai and his wife, shared that she witnessed Mr. Thai's wife opening the crab noodle shop from the very beginning. "After getting married, the couple worked hard to share and make their business grow. Who would have thought that Covid-19 would turn out like this. When his wife was alive, this crab noodle shop was very expensive and they sold non-stop," she said.

"I wanted to give up"

Sharing with Thanh Nien , Mr. Thai said that he cooks and sells alone from early morning until late at night, so he is often exhausted. There are days when he cannot bear it anymore and has to close the shop for 2 or 3 days in a row.

“My wife is gone, I have to take care of everything by myself. I have 3 sons, the youngest of whom is slow to speak, and it would be impossible without me by his side. There are days when I stand selling from morning till night, I lie down on the bed and sleep, despite the smell of food all over me,” Mr. Thai confided.

Even so, seeing his children grow up day by day and his parents getting older, Thai knew he could not give up. Because of his wife's dedication over the years and to support the whole family, he always told himself that he had to try.

“I will probably sell as long as I can. My children lack their mother’s love, and I want to give that love to them on behalf of my wife. I only hope that when they grow up, they will have stable jobs and not have to suffer like their parents,” Mr. Thai said with a smile.

Mr. Thai also added that when his wife was the owner, the number of customers coming to eat every day was crowded, with long lines waiting to buy, selling several times more than now.

“My wife put a lot of heart into this vermicelli soup restaurant, I know I need to maintain her dream, and luckily many people love her, and now the number of customers is still high, although not as much as before,” said Mr. Thai.

When asked why Mr. Thai doesn't remarry to have someone to support and accompany him in his old age, he laughed: "When things are too hard, sometimes I think about it, but looking around, I see no one like my wife. After all these years together, the love is so deep," Mr. Thai looked into the house, where his three sons and mother-in-law were still playing.

Ms. Phan Thuy Trang (32 years old, District 6) is a "regular customer" of the restaurant. She shared that on days when her family doesn't cook, they go to Mr. Thai's restaurant to eat vermicelli soup with crab. Ms. Trang's family has been eating here since Mr. Thai's wife was still alive. She was touched by the way the couple loved and cared for each other. All the neighbors loved him so much that they came to support him and his family.