Mother sells 2 tons of rice and pigs to pay off debt of her children's "fake" lifestyle

"Bitter fruit" from debt collection calls

Mrs. Pham Thi Mai* (53 years old, Thai Binh) felt weak in the knees after receiving a phone call informing her that her son owed a lot of money. She couldn't remember how many calls this was to remind her of the debt.

This is the second debt she has received in the past month after her son took out a "hot" loan to buy a new phone.

An installment loan from 2022 of Ms. Pham Thi Mai's son (Photo: Character provided).

The first thing she was informed about was that her child borrowed money from the company "MB Shinesx.." in 2022 to buy an iPhone 12 for 24.9 million VND. The down payment was 5 million VND, the remaining installment loan was 19.9 million VND.

Recently, the lender reported that the unpaid principal and interest was more than 50 million VND and requested urgent payment.

Another amount, her son asked a friend to borrow more than 20 million VND from "Mced..." to buy an Iphone 13. After many times of urging him to pay, the remaining amount is now more than 10 million VND. If he continues to not pay, the principal and interest will add up very quickly.

All her life working hard in the fields, working her face to the ground and her back to the sky, the old mother did not understand what it meant to live "on canvas" or to borrow on credit.

"I only hear people say that my child lives a life of poverty and borrows money everywhere. But I still provide for his food and living expenses every month. When my child went to the city to study, I also bought him a smartphone to use. I don't understand why he keeps borrowing money to buy phones?", Mrs. Mai wondered.

When asked about her son, she only received a grumpy response, so Mrs. Mai had to call her son's friends to find out what was going on. According to the friends, the mother knew that every time a new phone came out, her son would "upgrade" it and find every way to buy a new one.

Another loan that Ms. Mai's son asked a friend to borrow to "upgrade" his phone (Photo: Character provided).

"His friends said he built an image of a well-off family, a comfortable life, and constantly upgraded his phone to the latest models. Even when going to school, he took a technology car instead of the old car I sent him. His hair was also dyed stylishly, and he changed his clothes constantly," the mother recounted.

Tightening her belt to provide money for her child to study in the city, the old mother cherished the hope that her child would become successful so that she could support him in his old age. However, after several years of studying, she received the "bitter fruit" of debt collection calls.

"I just had to sell 2 tons of rice at 12,000 VND/kg, a total of 24 million VND, along with a herd of piglets to pay off my son's debt. The loan sharks called my eldest daughter's office, then called my relatives... I'm so heartbroken," Ms. Mai choked up as she talked about her current situation.

Mrs. Mai's story is not too common, but it is not strange because in reality many students are disregarding their family's economic situation to pursue a lavish, colorful, and fake lifestyle.

Chasing after friends is also a lesson that Hong Nhung - a former student of Hanoi University of Industry - once encountered. Nhung said that when she first became a freshman, seeing her friends doing their nails, hair, makeup, wearing nice clothes, fancy phones... she was also eager to learn from them.

The photos posted by the new student on social media are carefully edited and taken in luxurious places. She spends more time at coffee shops and hanging out with friends than studying and with her family.

To have money to do this, Nhung was late in paying her tuition and then borrowed money everywhere. Once, she even went drinking with her friends to have money to spend.

"I kept running around, borrowing from one place and borrowing from another. It wasn't until I received a warning from the academic department for late tuition and low grades that I finally calmed down and thought about it. Luckily, I realized it early," Hong Nhung said.

A warning bell for young people about the trend of virtual living

The "canvas" lifestyle is often understood as building a flashy appearance, a splendid lifestyle on the outside but lacking in sincerity on the inside, not true to reality.

This "painting" of a splendid, luxurious appearance is the way many young people today aim for. They do not care too much about their real life, but when posting pictures or videos online, everything must be sparkling and magnificent, to receive admiration and praise from others.

Recently, many cases were discovered to have taken advantage of charity donations after Typhoon Yagi to "post" and make images for themselves, which is also a warning bell for young people about the trend of virtual living.

Typically, a male tiktoker with millions of followers was discovered by the online community to have made a mistake in his charity donations. This person announced that he had transferred tens of millions of VND to the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, but after checking, netizens discovered that the transaction was for 1 million VND. After that, this young man apologized and admitted his "fake" lifestyle.

Another case is the suspicion of a former athlete who posted on social media "hinting" at a donation amount of up to 9 figures, or hundreds of millions of VND. However, the actual donation amount through checking the statement of the person with the same name as this former athlete was only 500,000 VND.

Many students are pursuing a lavish, "showy" lifestyle (Illustration image created by AI).

Psychologist Dao Le Hoa An - Member of the Advisory Council for Policy and Law on Youth of the Central Committee of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union - is concerned that the "canvas" trend - where young people create an ideal image online - is having a negative impact on both individuals and society.

According to Dr. Hoa An, individuals who constantly project this false image may face health and mental problems. They are under pressure to maintain an ideal appearance, leading to anxiety and feelings of inadequacy when real life does not meet those expectations.

On a societal level, this trend promotes unrealistic expectations and a materialistic lifestyle. The constant exposure to carefully crafted images in cyberspace leads many young people to believe that this is the standard of living. This leads to increasing dissatisfaction with their own lives.

*Character names have been changed

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/giao-duc/ba-me-ban-2-tan-thoc-cung-dan-lon-de-tra-no-loi-song-phong-bat-cho-con-20240915225554305.htm