20 years of selling lottery tickets to raise 6 children: Then mother 'graduated' from the school of life...

In the warm afternoon atmosphere of Khanh Cuong commune ( Quang Ngai ), we visited a small house near the slope of Be mountain, where mother Le Thi Loi, 70 years old, is still diligently herding cows and farming. More than 20 years ago, she left her poor hometown to go to Ho Chi Minh City to sell lottery tickets, raising 6 children to become good people.

Her life is a testament to a mother's strength and boundless love.

Now, after 20 years of hard work, she has returned to her hometown, still wearing a faded shirt, small in stature but her gentle eyes always shining with pride for her 6 children who all have stable jobs. Of these, 4 are engineers, 2 graduated from college or secondary school.

Goodbye to the fields, to the city

Through the small, green, tree-lined concrete village roads, we arrived at the house of Mrs. Le Thi Loi in residential area 6, Thanh Son village (formerly Pho Cuong commune, now Khanh Cuong commune, Quang Ngai). The house was simple but cozy and lovely. Mr. Tran Van Huan, 49 years old, Mrs. Loi's eldest son, said his mother was not home, herding cows at the foot of Be mountain nearby.

- Ảnh 1. — Mrs. Le Thi Loi returned to the village, continued to live on farming and herding cows.

At the age of seventy, her face has a benevolent expression and a gentle smile. Sitting under a bush at the foot of Be Mountain, Mrs. Loi recounted 20 years of hardship wandering in Ho Chi Minh City to sell lottery tickets, partly to raise her six children, and partly to treat her kidney inflammation and her husband's spinal stenosis in his hometown.

- Ảnh 2. — Ms. Le Thi Loi is talking about her 20-year journey of selling lottery tickets to raise her children.

"The fields did not have enough rice to grow, my husband was sick, and my children were still in school. Many sleepless nights, I could only cry. Then I thought, if I did not go, my children would have to leave school," she said. Then one morning, the mother wiped away her tears and left her hometown, bringing with her a few clothes and a few hundred thousand dong, got on a bus to Ho Chi Minh City, and began her journey to make a living.

Having no job or acquaintances, she chose to sell lottery tickets - a job that required no capital, only legs and endurance. From then on, she began her days of sun and rain, walking all over the city to exchange each ticket for meals and dreams for her children.

Years of hard work

Ms. Loi's first rented room was a dilapidated corner of a house in District 11 (old). "The room was cramped and crowded. I let some people from my hometown stay with me, both to save on rent and to have someone to share with. Every night, we lay around like fish, but we were happy because we weren't lonely," she recalled.

The eldest son, Tran Van Huan, said that his younger brother, Tran Van Phong, went to school before 1996 (college and then transferred to university at Nha Trang University of Fisheries, Khanh Hoa ). After his younger brother went to school, Mr. Huan went to Ho Chi Minh City with his mother and apply to study at Industrial College 4.

"Mom went out selling lottery tickets from early morning to late at night. She came home around noon to cook for my siblings and me to go to school, then went out again. Sometimes she came home late, and my siblings only ate cold rice and boiled vegetables. Whatever Mom ate, we ate. And in 20 years like that, she never once complained of being tired."

- Ảnh 3. — Mr. Tran Van Huan talks about the 20 years his mother sold lottery tickets in Ho Chi Minh City.

While Huan and his younger brother Tran Van Phong were studying, the younger brother Tran Van Luu continued to go to Ho Chi Minh City to study at Ton Duc Thang University. This way, one had not yet graduated, the other had already enrolled. 6 sons, 1 in Nha Trang, and 5 in Ho Chi Minh City, all lived with their mother. Whatever the mother ate, the children ate.

The rice pot grew bigger and bigger each day, but the food became less and less. "Meat and fish were just for decoration, but in reality it was just vegetables and soup," Mr. Huan smiled sadly. But thanks to the small change their mother saved, the six brothers gradually fulfilled their dream of studying.

On her journey to make a living, Mrs. Loi has mixed feelings. Some people know that she sells lottery tickets to support her 6 children's education so they buy them for her, others mock her...

During those years, she took care of her children’s education and sent money back to her hometown to treat her husband’s illness. When her husband became seriously ill, she quickly took a bus back to take care of him, pay for his medicine, and then returned to the city to continue making a living. The couple was like the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, only seeing each other for a few days each year during Tet.

"Every time he came back, he just said: 'Please hang on a little longer, the kids are about to graduate.' Hearing that, I had more strength," she said, her eyes red.

20 years and a "graduation" day

In 2017, the youngest son, Tran Van Thu, graduated from Van Lang University. That day, she called her husband in tears to tell him the news: "It's all over, honey, we can take care of them all!"

She said that was the day she “graduated”. Not from university, but from the school of life of a mother who had been selling lottery tickets for 20 years.

"I'm so happy that they have jobs. I just tell them: Even if you become successful in business, don't forget your mother who sold lottery tickets," she laughed.

Returning home, she returned to the fields. But her joy was not complete, a few years later her husband passed away.

- Ảnh 4. — The house of Mrs. Le Thi Loi in Thanh Son village, Khanh Cuong commune (Quang Ngai)

Now, every early morning, she leads her cows to the slopes of Bé Mountain. Few people would think that she once had a 20-year arduous journey in a foreign land. "I am very happy now. Looking at my children growing up, I see my sweat and tears in the bowls of rice they eat. I just hope they live a decent life and love others, that is enough," her voice was filled with satisfaction.

The life of a mother who spent 20 years selling lottery tickets, exchanging every penny to raise her children to study is a beautiful story of immense motherly love. After all, what she "won" was not some kind of jackpot, but rather, the great "prize" of life: 6 children who were raised to be good people.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/20-nam-ban-ve-so-nuoi-6-con-an-hoc-roi-me-cung-tot-nghiep-truong-doi-185251021145738759.htm