Zing Muse – Having had several failed relationships because of “being a deaf and mute man”, Minh Tam once thought she would never be able to marry anyone in her life.

But the 23-year-old girl from Hoa Lu, Ninh Binh, completely changed her mind when she met Shutaro Kawamoto, a 33-year-old Japanese man, during a business trip to Vietnam two years ago.

In early August, their wedding took place without any discrimination from the groom’s family – the thing the girl feared the most.

During the wedding, Minh Tam’s father, Mr. Hoang Van Tinh, slowly put his arm around his daughter and led her down the aisle. The deaf and mute father could only hug his two children, clasping his hands in front of his chest as if to tell his son-in-law to “love and protect Minh Tam”.

“Finally, I have happiness and my parents no longer have to worry about their daughter’s troubled love life,” Minh Tam said.

Minh Tam and Shutaro’s love came unexpectedly at the end of 2021. At that time, the female student was selling goods at a shopping mall in Hanoi, while the Japanese guy went there to shop on a business trip to Vietnam. “I saw that she was petite, her hair, eye makeup, and the dress she was wearing were very similar to Japanese girls, so I thought she was from the same country,” Shutaro said.

He stood at the booth for a long time thinking about how to start a conversation. At that moment, the store manager pulled customers in to introduce the product. Even though it wasn’t what he wanted to buy, he still chose a jar of bath salts, using the excuse of asking for Minh Tam’s phone number. The guy mistook the Vietnamese girl for Japanese, and she thought he was Korean.

The two talked via text messages in English using a translation tool. Thanks to that, they knew each other’s backgrounds. The two went to many famous places in Hanoi. “He was gentle, didn’t know how to joke, and was very kind,” Minh Tam realized the good points in his new friend.

Every time Minh Tam lost her clothes, belongings or phone, Shutaro listened to her concerns and was willing to help. Even though her English was not good, she often made grammatical mistakes and even caused misunderstandings, he still patiently listened and helped her correct her mistakes.

“I am so patient because I like Minh Tam’s personality. She is straightforward, honest, energetic, always cheerful and innocent,” Shutaro said. When the guy helped her with small tasks or lent her money, even if it was only 200-300 thousand VND, the girl always found a way to pay it back. When they went out together, if the food was not delicious, she would say it directly instead of praising it to please her like Japanese girls.

Both felt their hearts fluttering at the same time as worries tormented Minh Tam’s mind. Her father and an uncle were born deaf and mute due to their grandfather being exposed to Agent Orange in the war. However, Mr. Tinh still got married and gave birth to three healthy children.

The father opened a hair salon and worked as a waiter in a restaurant with his wife to raise the children to adulthood. Since childhood, Minh Tam was discriminated against by many people because she was “the son of a deaf man”. The villagers called her father’s hair salon “the mute shop” or “the mute Tinh shop”. Growing up, the girl understood her father’s disadvantages and did not feel sad but respected him even more. “Although he was disabled, my father never let me lack anything”, she said.

Proud of her strong-willed father, Minh Tam could not avoid the worry of “not being able to get married”. She had been through a few relationships, but when she learned that Minh Tam’s father suffered from Agent Orange, the families of the boys strongly forbade it. “Having gone through a broken love for that reason, I wanted to be honest with Shutaro from the beginning, to avoid both of us going further and then being disappointed,” she said.

With her limited English, the Vietnamese girl told Shutaro. Contrary to what Minh Tam imagined, he hugged her, shedding tears. “Everyone should be grateful because your father’s hardship contributed to a prosperous Vietnam like today. I want to protect you, I want to protect your family,” Shutaro said.

After that day, he and she went to Bat Trang pottery village, bought a set of teacups to send as a gift to her father for Tet.

But for Minh Tam, that expression was not enough. She tested him by lying that her family was very poor, living in a thatched-roof house, mosquitoes buzzing at night, and having to use a basin to catch the rain. “I was very surprised but I just felt more sorry for her,” Shutaro said. He asked her if she needed any financial support to go home for Tet, Minh Tam refused.

Understanding the Japanese guy’s heart, they decided that they were meant for each other. When his girlfriend brought him home to meet her parents, seeing the spacious and well-appointed two-story house, Shutaro thought she was taking him to someone else’s house. “Why is it so big and beautiful? It turns out you lied to me,” he said and realized that his girlfriend wanted to test his heart.

Ms. Vu Thi Thanh (49 years old), Minh Tam’s mother, said that she was very worried about her children’s future happiness. “Before, every time she dated a guy for 2-3 days, my daughter would clearly state her situation. When she saw that his family did not accept her, I advised her to break up, because even if she tried to get together, she would not be happy,” the mother said.

In the past, Ms. Thanh married Mr. Tinh, who lived more than 6 km away from home, out of love without thinking twice. Even though her family advised her to consider it, she still decided to get married. When the three children were born one after another, waiting for them to learn to talk and walk, the mother was able to relieve her worries.

This time, when her daughter brought Shutaro home, she knew Minh Tam had found someone who could accompany her in the future. “Not only Shu but also her family is very supportive and excited, so we are very excited,” the mother said. She said it was difficult to predict the future, but she believed that Tam was currently happy when she witnessed Shutaro taking care of and loving her daughter. In particular, the in-laws’ family had a liberal mindset and a modern lifestyle.

At the wedding, not only were the guests moved by the moment the bride’s father led his daughter down the aisle, they were also surprised by the performance of the groom’s family. Eight representatives of Shutaro’s family, including his parents, wore uniforms with pictures of their two children on stage, singing and dancing enthusiastically, stirring up the wedding atmosphere.

Currently, Shutaro and Minh Tam returned to their hometown in Chiba, Japan to enjoy their honeymoon and arrange their work before living permanently in Vietnam. Although a bit worried about the future of the next generation, Minh Tam tried to live according to her mother’s advice, waiting for luck to come to her small family.

Linda (Love)