I was sure I had lost the money until I got a call from my colleague.
At parties with colleagues, the cost is usually agreed upon in advance. Either it is divided equally so that each person pays their own share, or someone takes the initiative to “cover” the whole group for some special reason. But there are also situations that do not develop like that, like the story of the man surnamed Trieu below.
Retired for 10 years but still close like brothers
More than 20 years ago, I, Mr. Ha and some others worked together in a metal workshop. At that time, the whole group were young single men, after work we often gathered to play sports and travel everywhere together. At that time, we were not rich but our hearts were less burdened and pressured, carefree.
We also shared our dreams and ambitions for the future. Ha always said that he would start his own business. Later we learned that his family background was very good. His father was the director of a plastic company. His work at the metal factory was just to gain experience.
After quitting their jobs, everyone had their own jobs and Mr. Ha was the one with the best financial conditions. He quit his old job 10 years ago, started his own business and now owns his own company which is on the rise. He lives in a high-end residential area in the east of the city, owns many luxury cars and real estate.
However, Mr. Ha has never forgotten his old friends. Whenever he has free time, he contacts them to organize intimate meetings and always pays the bill.
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Every party we had was very fun and comfortable. Not because of the wealth of our former colleague, but the feelings were still intact as before. We were also very proud to have a sincere friend like Mr. Ha. Maybe to him, we were just ordinary people, not bringing any value, but he always treated us very well, never looked down on or despised anyone.
Of course, we were a little hesitant when Mr. Ha was so generous. So whenever he needed help, the whole team was ready. For example, when his factory had a large order and needed help, we all proactively came to help after work, without expecting anything in return. Sometimes, I even let my son who is in college come to help Mr. Ha's child study for exams.
The relationship between us - former colleagues - is like blood brothers, without any calculation, very pure.
Grit your teeth and pay 12 million VND for your former colleague
During the holidays last year, Mr. Ha invited us to eat at a famous restaurant in the city, the cost was his responsibility. Like every previous meeting, he asked me to inform and everyone was present.
During the party, Mr. Ha revealed that he had an important project and was afraid that he would be too busy to meet everyone next year, so he arranged this meeting. After hearing this, we were all very touched and appreciated his sincerity. The party was very fun, and the whole group had a great time together.
After the party, Mr. Ha paid the bill as usual, but when he was about to transfer the money, his face suddenly changed color. His phone battery was dead and he had forgotten his wallet at home today. Without hesitation, I paid for my former colleague, the bill was 3,400 NDT (about 12 million VND). In response to this action, he repeatedly apologized for bothering me.
I also believed that Mr. Ha would soon return the money to me. Because this amount of money might be trivial to him, but to me, it was more than half a month's salary, the living expenses of the whole family for a month. So every day I checked my phone, hoping to receive money from my old colleague, but the more I looked, the more I couldn't find it.
A month and then half a year passed, Mr. Ha seemed to have forgotten all the money that I had paid on his behalf. He was also busy with work so we didn’t have time to meet. There were times when I thought about asking him directly but I stopped because I thought that doing so could damage our friendship of many years.
In the end, I decided not to worry about the money anymore. After all, Mr. Ha often paid for the meetings before, so I considered that time as my invitation.
(Illustration)
Touching act of help
As I said, I have a son who is studying at university. After graduating, he wants to study further, which makes my wife and I very worried because our family's economic conditions do not allow it.
Currently, I am the main breadwinner, working to support the family because my wife has just lost her job. Although I don't want to, I have to advise my son to temporarily put his studies on hold and go to work to help his parents raise his younger sibling. He hesitated and asked for 1-2 days to think about it.
The next day, I received a call from Mr. Ha, saying that he had something to look for. While I didn't know what my old colleague had to do, and even thought about him paying the money, Mr. Ha appeared. As soon as he saw me, he immediately scolded me, saying that I didn't know how to plan for the future, worry about my children,...
I really didn't understand anything so I asked Mr. Ha to calmly explain. Without saying anything, he gave me a message from my son. It turned out that the boy had texted him, asking for help.
Mr. Ha blamed me for preventing my child from studying just because of his difficult family situation. No matter how hard it was, it was only temporary and I could completely rely on him for help, emphasizing that investing in children's education was the top priority and the responsibility of parents.
I understood his good intentions but didn't know what to say, feeling helpless because of my own incompetence. Seeing me silent, Mr. Ha patted my shoulder to try to comfort me. He apologized for raising his voice and praised my son's ambition.
Finally, he gave me an envelope, saying that this was a scholarship from an uncle for my son. He hoped that my son would have the opportunity to study and develop more, and achieve success in the future.
I was so moved that I almost cried. Seeing that, Mr. Ha patted me on the back and said: “Brother, don’t be so polite. We will always be brothers, and when we are in trouble, we must help each other! If you don’t accept, then from now on, let’s not see each other again.” The more he spoke, the more embarrassed I felt. Just a few minutes before, I was still worried about the little money I had given to my friend.
That day, when I got home and opened the envelope, I found a bundle of cash, totaling 30,000 NDT (about 106 million VND). My wife couldn’t help but exclaim at her good friend but also worried about whether she should return it or not, while I sat there silently.
I told my wife about paying for the party, she said: "Luckily you weren't petty." I also felt lucky that I didn't let that money hurt our friendship and brotherhood.
Source: https://giadinh.suckhoedoisong.vn/gia-canh-kho-khan-van-bop-bung-tra-12-trieu-tien-an-cho-dong-nghiep-giau-nua-nam-sau-nguoi-nay-xuat-hien-cuu-ca-gia-dinh-chung-toi-17224102409034457.htm
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