Eleven Orphan Daughters

He missed having Anh waiting for him in his room. She had left when he told her he was going to the farm for the weekend. Shit, he thought, I am really going bad even the prostitutes are dumping me.

The trip back to Australia was tiring. His mates kept talking about the cattle they had sold to their buyer in Ho Chi Minh City. They had ignored John's advice. "It's not our problem if the cattle fail," Charlie said. "Let the buyer beware that's my slogan. If he wants to run a dairy in the delta that is up to him. You have become a bloody do gooder," he said as he shook his head in disgust.

John spent the next month gathering information on feedlots, fruit fly, sugar cane and other crops. He took a computer course at the local TAFE and hired a personal tutor to make sure his computer skills were sufficient to teach the girls back in Vietnam.

His financial advisor assured him his investments were more than adequate to allow him to take two million Australian dollars and transfer it to an account with the Australian and New Zealand bank in Hanoi. "We can claim it as an investment for tax purposes," he told John.

Stan did everything to stop him. He told most of their friends that John had gone Troppo. John was warned against the move in turn by his accountant, then his bank manager and then the director of the farmer's federation.

When he told them at the pub, he was going back to build a feedlot Harry exploded. "It's neither the women nor the grog," he said with a nasty tone in his voice. "He's bloody gone commo."

It was mid morning when he emerged from the Airport terminal in Hanoi. His face lit up when he spied Ruby and Mai. There was a lump in his throat when he said, "This is very nice, a real surprise. You didn't have to meet me."

He gave each a hug and tried to kiss them on the cheek. "Here give us a hand," he laughed as a heavy box fell from his overloaded trolley. "I have bought a few things that I thought might come in handy."

He looked around, "The hotel has a car booked for me. Can I give you a lift?" "Rose does not want you to stay in Hanoi," Mai whispered. "She sent us to meet you and bring you back to the farm. If we do not have to go into town, we can catch a bus at the turn off on the highway."

John looked at his overloaded trolley. "I couldn't get all of this on the bus. Let's go into the hotel and have some lunch. We can sort out what we are going to do while we are eating."

Luckily, the hotel had sent a mini bus to pick up John, His heavy bags and boxes filled the rear seats. Mai sat in the front with the driver. Ruby and John sat together behind her. He looked at Ruby and took her hand giving it a squeeze. "I told you I would return," he whispered. She removed her hand from his and turned her head to look at him, "I'm glad you did." They rode in silence to the hotel.

Over lunch, Ruby suggested that John should book a room at a hotel in the province. Mai agreed, "You will need a place of your own. There are no hotels in our village but there is a one star Vietnamese hotel about 30 minutes away in the village where you met the party secretary."

"Let's go and talk to a car dealer," he said as they left the restaurant. "I want to lease a mini bus and a driver for a month with the option of purchasing it when we have our own driver. He looked at Ruby," I will leave that to you to negotiate. Let's go down the ANZ bank. I have money there that we can withdraw."

The afternoon sped by. With the banking formalities, completed Ruby leased a bus and an English-speaking driver. They loaded up the bus with John's boxes and left the hotel.

As soon as they passed over the Red River Bridge John asked the driver to stop and jumped in the driving seat. "Come and sit beside me," he said to Ruby. "You are going to learn to drive."

After they left the highway, he stopped. "Now it's your turn. It is automatic so you do not have to change gears. You only need to operate the brakes and steering." Ruby was surprisingly good. She drove far to slow but was untroubled by traffic and the other cars that bulldozed their way along the road.

They reached the village as the sun set. The driver took over to negotiate the bus through the side road and the market before running down the lane to the farm.

The whole family turned out to welcome them. They all lined up to give him a kiss on the cheek and a hug. My god he thought as he felt a soft breast brush his arm. I have forgotten their names. I will have to get Mai to teach me all over again.

Their excitement at receiving his gifts was nothing compared with their surprise when they unpacked solar panels, electrical equipment, a computer and loads of books.

"The books are for the local school you can go through them and keep what ever you want. Look in the other boxes I have brought many things for the farm. Some of my friends in our Governments Primary Industries department have provided information that could help local farmers."

It was late when John and the driver booked into the hotel. I am glad we took the gear to the farm first John thought as he struggled to carry his bag up the narrow stairs to his room.

He went down stairs to ask for help when his shower would not work. The young man who was watching TV had little English. After struggling for a few minutes, he called a young girl. "Yes shower and massage," she said as she ushered him out the front door.

Next-door three young women welcomed him. One who obviously had a little English said, "Room three." She followed him in and indicated the shower. "You shower," she said as she stood and watched him start to undress. When he indicated she should leave while he undressed, she laughed and started to help him out of his clothes.

The water was cold but he didn't care. He was tired. The young masseuse dried him off and made him lay face down. She was surprisingly good. Before long, he was half-asleep as she worked on his tired body. When she made him turn over, he had a chance to study her, she was quite curvaceous.

She flipped his towel away and took his prick in her hand. She made motions suggesting a blowjob. When he signaled no, she opened her shirt exposing her small hard breasts. She then took some baby oil and started to move her hand down over his balls.

His prick had a mind of its own. John was frightened of VD and AIDS. His prick could not have cared less. Within minutes, he felt his sperm flood up and spew out over her hand. She smiled her eyes wide, "good" she whispered. He had to agree, "Good," he moaned.

Early next morning he went for a walk around the village. The market was filling up by the time he returned to the hotel. He could see that many items were over supplied. It didn't take him long to work out that with a little planning Rose and her family could plan so they grew items that were scarce not those in oversupply.

He was sipping a cup of green tea in the hotel lobby when Ruby arrived. "I need your help," he told her as they sat down. "You must help me convince the party and the local government to let your family own more land."

She smiled, "while you were away the peoples committee agreed that we could buy any of the available farms if we were able to raise the money. Mr. Treet, the party secretary likes you. He wants you to join him for lunch."

John had Ruby show him the farms. Then he asked how they could obtain approval to build Rose a three-story house. Ruby laughed, "You have made a very powerful friend. Mr. Treet has already asked the peoples committee chair and his officials to join you for a meeting before lunch."

"He has told them to help you. He has said he wants them to devise a dairy plan for the province based on your ideas. Tomorrow he will organize a meeting with senior officials from the ministry of agriculture and rural development so you can tell them how you think our province can make a success of dairy farming."

John had never been involved in a formal meeting with Vietnamese government officials before. He relied on Ruby who told him where to sit, when to speak and how to keep it short so the interpreter would be able to cover the points he made.

The meeting over they all joined the party secretary for lunch. He immediately asked John was he happy with the results of the meeting.

"More than happy," John responded. He nodded towards the Chairman. "He is a man of action. He has graciously agreed to allow Rose Nguyen to buy or lease three farms."

‘She will immediately build a house on the larger farm near the reservoir. That will accommodate her family of orphans. He has agreed that Mrs. Nguyen and her family can construct a small feedlot to accommodate 100 cows.

"He has agreed to the feedlot so we can use it to train locals in feedlot procedures. They in turn will show provincial and central government officials how my proposal for the provinces dairy industry will work."

"The committee will help find farmers who will grow fodder on contract for the feed lot. I am sure he is right when he says farmers will be better off growing corn and grass for the feedlot than growing rice when rice prices are so low."

"In the short term there will be new jobs constructing the house and the feed lot buildings. Supplying material, carting fodder and working at the feedlot will bring some additional benefit to your province. In the long term, if your province decides to build a major feedlot and a number of dairies there will be many benefits to the province and its farmers."

John and Ruby were stunned when Rose opposed his plans to buy farms and build a house. She became stubborn and angry, "too much debt" she argued. "Rose has never been in debt, don't owe anyone." She had not changed her mind when John returned to the hotel that night.

The next morning he sat and talked to Ruby. She had spent time after he left discussing their plans with Rose. "Under our law any land you buy must be in her name. You cannot have it in your name. She hasn't enough money to buy one farm. She is frightened that you will borrow to buy farms for her and leave her with the debt."

Ruby suggested that they talk to an accountant in the next village. As she drove him over to the village, they passed the party secretaries office. Mr. Treet was coming down the steps and waved to John, They stopped and talked about their problems.

"Leave it to me," he said. "I'll talk to Rose. It will be a couple of days before I can get down to the farm but leave it to me." John did not want to wait a few days. He was in a hurry but realized that without Rose's agreement his whole plan would fail.

At the farm, the mood had changed. The girls wanted John to buy land and build a house but no one was prepared to go against Rose's wishes. John was upset that his plans had caused a division in the family. He talked to Mai after school. "What can I do," he asked.

Mai was wise beyond her years. "We need to think and talk about something else," She told him as she put her bike away. "Remember you told us we needed new chickens. Mum has said that she agrees we need to renew our flock. I saw thirty chickens down at the market today could we buy some." "We‘ll buy the lot," he said.

At the market there were only twenty-two chickens left. The owner told them her family was leaving for the city. My husband is going to find work in construction. I'm trying to sell everything before we leave."

They drove her back to her farm to see what else she had for sale. They walked around while John counted what was left. "I make it two old hens, four ducks a drake a goose and a scrawny kitten with a sore eye." John looked at Mai, "we'll buy the lot," he said as she laughed.

Back at the house, they unloaded their menagerie. Mai and her sisters took the chickens and ducks down to the yard leaving John with the kitten and the goose. Rose heard them laughing and joking and came out to see what they were doing.

She cried, "oh the poor thing," when she spied the kitten. She picked it up and cuddled it in her arms. "I will bathe its eye," she said as he took it inside. Mai looked at John, "isn't that typical of Rose she always helps those in need." John agreed as he finished unloading the chicken feed and fed the goose.

In days to come, John would remember feeding that goose. It had obviously decided when he gave it much more food than normal, that John was a good master. It followed him everywhere. It had no fear. If anything it was aggressive, it would not let strangers near him especially when John was resting.

John had a new protector and Rose had her first pet. In the evenings, Rose sat with her kitten on her lap. She continually brushed its coat and bathed its eye. Her family was amazed. "Mums never had time for pets," they said as they watched her feeding and talking to kitten as if it was human.

By the time the party secretary and the local Agricultural bank manager called, Rose was back to her normal easy going self. The visitors talked in private with Rose then asked John to join them.

The bank manager explained that he did not want to interfere in John's business but he had come at the request of the party secretary and needed some answers. "Rose is worried that you will need a lot of money."

John laughed, "I don't want her to worry, I will pay for the house and the feedlot myself. When it makes a profit, you can sit down with Rose and me and work out the financials."

"What if it fails?" the Bank manager asked. "It won't," John replied. "If it does, I will lose my money. Rose will have lost nothing and she will have a new house for her family. I will leave it to you to have the legal papers drawn up so Rose owns it all, no loans and no debt; it will be a cash transaction."

They walked outside together. Mr. Treet shook John‘s hand. "You are very generous. If Rose does not agree we will find you other farms for the feedlot and other families." "Oh no," John cried. "It must be Rose. I have come to admire her and her family so much that I couldn't walk away and leave them."

"You won't have to," the bank manger said, "Her only worry was debt. Now that we can assure her there will be no debt you will only have to get her to agree to let you spend your money." It still was not easy to convince Rose. She spent two days thinking about it before giving in to the pleas of her family.

The Party Secretary called the day she agreed. "Don‘t let me down." He said. "I am counting on you to make this feedlot work. If you do, it will not only help Rose and her family it will help lots of people who want jobs in our province."

Once a decision was made to go ahead with the house there was no trouble with the recommended local Housing Contractor. He started immediately. His team worked long hours. Each day John inspected the progress as he went to work. He told Rose "If they keep working at this rate they will finish in a month."

Down at the feedlot site it was just the opposite. The contractor from Hanoi argued when John told him the concrete floor had to be scored with grooves to let the water run off and help the cows retain their footing. He would not accept that cows would slip and fall on smooth wet concrete.

When told that the floor had to have a slope so that the automatic manure flushing system would carry manure away. He refused, saying people would laugh at his work if it were not flat and level.

When John told him an area had to be partitioned off as a separate birthing place. "Cows must have a place that's calm and safe to have calves," he told him. "They must not be in danger of being trodden on by others." The contractor turned to his workers and jeered, "Cow no need special place, have calf in paddock."

When John ordered the steel frames and roofing from Vinasteel, he finally downed tools. "Roof to high, no need, waste of money," he said as he led his workers away.

John was sitting alone on the site angry and frustrated when Rose arrived with the mini bus driver to pick him up. Sitting alone he had built up a head of steam. Rose's arrival set him off. "The boy's were bloody right. I am mad to be over here doing this." He yelled as he flung himself in the back seat of the bus.

"Me no understand, you talk to fast," Rose whispered slowly. "Oh shit not you too," he groaned. "That's the bloody trouble no one understands." Rose sat silent until they arrived home. She fled into the house. "He very angry," she told Mai and her sisters. "He shouts I don't understand. You go find out."

He was explaining to Mai and her sisters when Ruby arrived home. She hurried over to him. "What did you do? The contractor went to the Party and complained about you."

"I did nothing; he is either incompetent or a trouble maker. I don't want him back on the job." She listened as John went back over his explanation of the day's events. "Don't worry she told him. We will go see the chairman and the construction bureau in the morning."

By the time, they met the construction bureau the Contractor had left the village to return to Hanoi. Before he left, he had blamed all the problems and delays on the foreigner His letter to the party spoke of the need to stop Capitalist foreigners from trying to run our country.

It was two frustrating weeks before John was able to end the contract and hire local workers. "I will supervise it myself," he told the construction bureau office. "It is different to anything your builders have done before."

In the meantime, the local builder had finished the major construction work on Rose's new house. "We need plaster and paint, and then we can cover the floors and move in some new furniture," John said as the family inspected the work. The house plan was for three stories but the builder had consulted with John and added a large room and an open-air area on top.

John started to smile again when he saw the happiness radiating from the faces of Rose's family as they discussed and argued about the way in which each floor could be divided into sufficient rooms.

While the committee deliberated about the feedlot, John had concentrated on the house and the old farm. "Let's buy new furniture," he told them as they sat discussing the allocation of rooms. "A new home deserves a new start. We can leave the old stuff here until you make up your mind what to do with it."

Within a week, the plaster and painting jobs were complete. Rose organized the girls to clean up the mess the builder left behind. She pointed to the girl whose soft breasts had excited John." Pansy will go with you to pick furniture for your room." John was stunned. "What room?" he asked.

Pansy took his arm and led him away. "Mum has decided you should live with us. She does not like you living in that hotel. She has been told that you have had a massage every night. You no need to go to strange girl. We can massage you."

John was embarrassed. He did not know what to say. Rose knew about his nightly massage. I wonder how much she knows he thought.

Weeks ago, when his old body was tired and sore he agreed to another massage. He was so tired he went to sleep as she worked his tired muscles. He awoke with a start when his prick bucked and spewed cum over her hands. "Good," she had whispered as she used a warm cloth to clean his prick, "very good, my name Melissa."

The next night Melissa had knocked on the door of his room. Thinking that no one at the farm would know he had let her in. From that night on Melissa had slept in his room each night.

Pansy was a cuddly touchy twenty one year old. She sat very close to him on the bus and held his hand as they bought things for his room. She never left his side.

When they were finished, she took him to the Hotel to collect his things. She held his arm possessively not saying a word when he kissed Melissa on the cheek and gave her a half a million Dong.