Bi was silent and ate intently. For a long time, he had been attached to his grandfather like glue. Whenever he didn't come home for a meal, he would remind him. As for Tien, Mr. Phe's second son, he was always grumpy and could never say a nice word to his father. In the middle of the morning, he called his daughter-in-law: "Don't wait for dinner, Dad." She told her son and husband: "I called earlier and told the whole family to eat first." After the whole family finished eating, Mr. Phe came home. Tien snapped: "Where are you, Dad?" Mr. Phe shouted: "You there, I'm the same age, living happily and healthily, I don't need you for a penny. Don't be rude!"
The scene of Mr. Phe and his son quarreling with each other happened all the time. Especially since Tien lost his power and was no longer the leader of a spontaneous construction group in the countryside. The workers who used to follow Tien, now all had good financial conditions , so they wanted to separate and work on their own. Tien only led three or four people, and they lacked experience and skills, so after a few projects, their reputation declined. The group disbanded. Tien had to ask to work for his former "soldiers". How humiliating. Tien had been drinking, now he drank even more. His face was always red.
***
Mr. Phe is younger than many people his age. He is a war invalid, after many years of working as a security guard and school drum beater, he retired. Although he only has a war invalid's pension, plus a little capital saved over the years, he now does not have to worry about finances, nor does he depend on his children. He has two sons. The eldest son married at the head of the village, and rented a large pond to grow lotus and raise fish. Several times he heard the villagers say that Mr. Phe often raised his voice at his younger son, so the eldest son wanted to take his father to live with him. But he said he had to live in his ancestral land, and besides, he was used to the alley with the hibiscus flowers, the garden with the birds singing. Furthermore, he could still tolerate Tien.
- I'm just thinking about you, Dad. If you can't stand it, then just come and live with us. Besides, you're only going to the village entrance, not leaving your hometown, so there's nothing to be afraid of. The eldest brother persuaded him.
Mr. Phe thanked the elder for his kindness. He knew that old people living with young people could easily cause trouble. Who could be sure that if he went to the village to live with his eldest son, things wouldn’t go wrong? At that time, if he wanted a change of atmosphere, he would have to walk a long way to get back to the middle of the village to meet his friends.
- Okay, let me figure it out.
In the following days, Mr. Phe often cycled to his eldest son's place to play, paying more attention to his grandchildren. He had just "taken office" as the Head of the Elderly Association of the village. The association took care of the flower pots along the roadside, making the developing countryside more beautiful. He told the members, the young men of the village were busy, we had more free time, planting flowers not only took care of the children's spirit, but also brought us clarity and health.
In fact, besides Mr. Phe, there were only a few old people who were enthusiastic about taking care of the flowers and trees along the roads and alleys. The young people who were busy working in companies and factories felt very happy when they saw the old men planting trees and taking care of them day and night. Some even asked for Sunday off to help carry water for the old men. Mr. Phe laughed heartily as if he had found money. Taking care of the flowers and socializing a lot, Mr. Phe felt his soul strangely light. Feeling overwhelmed, he often sang to himself and read poetry. One day, he came home and told his family:
- After dinner, everyone sit down so I can say this.
Money shouted:
- What is this, just say it, why do you have to be so secretive?
Mr. Phe said loudly:
- Oh, it's like this, dad will read poetry for the whole family to listen to. Nowadays, life is more advanced, people are not only concerned with food and clothing, but also need to know how to enjoy culture and art...
Not letting his father finish his sentence, Tien interrupted: Oh, children nowadays don't need that kind of sentimentality. Mr. Phe didn't bother to argue. Oh my, if everything is converted into money, what can we call a spiritual life? He stood up, stretched, and suddenly his eyes met the moonlight of his hometown. The moon was so beautiful and poetic. A poetic verse emerged, he uttered: "I am poetic with the golden moonlight/Waiting for spring to come, waiting for you to go/What else do I care about in my age/I crave the swallow's wings every time I miss you". Bi shouted "You are so wonderful", while his son couldn't help but pout: "Dad, don't poison Bi!".
***
As the head of the Senior Citizens Association, Mr. Phe initiated a poetry movement. The core members were the members of the commune poetry club. That said, many of them were very impressive, members of the district-level club, no joke. Once, Mr. Phe was invited to attend a meeting outside the district, and he saw people spending money to apply for permits and print poetry. The poetry collections were professionally printed, very beautiful, unlike in his village, where they were only photocopied and roughly read. He discussed with Mr. Truong and Mr. Ngu, two effective members of the village poetry club: "Maybe I will invest money to print a poetry collection. I have more than ten million, but I'm afraid it's my second son. He doesn't like poetry, and in case he gets angry."
Mr. Ngu analyzed:
- No matter what, children just want their parents to be healthy. If we are healthy, they don't have to take care of us. And writing poetry is definitely a way to immerse yourself in youth, what's the point of not being healthy?
- But my son Tien, he only thinks about money and doesn't know what love for his father is.
Mr. Ngu said loudly:
- I don't think he's that bad. He loves his father but he doesn't have any heart. It's just that his business isn't going well. But the other day he told my son Thoi, "Whatever my "old man" needs, I'll do it." I heard it right.
Mr. Truong nodded in approval. Mr. Truong himself had also set aside some savings to print a book of poems for life. Mr. Phe was right. He was their father and mother, and Tien's mother had died early, raising two children as a single father was hard in many ways, so now that he was a little happier, printing a book of poems wouldn't hurt anyone. The three men shook hands and said in unison: Each of us will print a book.
***
Mr. Phe suddenly won the lottery. It was a beautiful morning, he received a call.
- Yes sir, is Mr. Phe from the union?
Mr. Phe heard that, was surprised, and asked again:
- I am a critic, but not in the association. I only join the poetry club.
The caller quickly corrected: Yes, that's right, it's the poetry association. That's right, sir. I'm calling to tell you some very good news, your phone number has won a prize of a SH motorbike. Our staff will contact you, please pick up the phone.
Chattering happily, Mr. Phe did not have time to ask why he had won. He intended to ask the person who called him. A few minutes later, an unknown number called, saying that an employee of the X corporation had contacted him to give him instructions on how to receive the prize. Since the value of the car was up to one hundred and twenty million, the tax was ten million, and besides, he had to buy another product of the corporation, worth five million. The girl with a sweet voice asked Mr. Phe if it would be more convenient to pay through a bank account. Mr. Phe said:
- Oh, by the way, I was wondering why I won the lottery?
The girl said: Yes, this is our policy. Every year the company randomly selects subscribers to give prizes. In the whole district, you are the luckiest. Do you have a bank account?
- I'm old, I don't know anything about bank accounts to transfer.
The girl continued to whisper sweet nothings into Mr. Phe’s ear: Yes, it’s okay. We have a form of customer support to receive rewards. We will send someone to your place to verify your face, receive the tax money and deliver the purchased product to the customer. When we confirm that you have paid the tax into the system, the company will send someone to bring the car to your place, you just prepare the water and wait…
Mr. Phe's heart was filled with an unprecedented excitement. He had never heard such a young and devoted voice. He had also been told by the girl that he needed to surprise his relatives, so he had to keep it a secret. He went in and out, counted the money and waited for the call. He told himself that his son would be very happy if he could own an expensive and luxurious car. He would just tell him to give back the money to print the poetry book, and the car was for him to use. He was old, so how could he use such a luxurious car?
The female employee called again and told Mr. Phe that she would come and see him tomorrow morning. She asked him if he used a smartphone. He said he used Zalo to communicate with the poetry group.
- Then you follow my instructions to send your location so we can find you easily.
Mr. Phe did as he was told, his heart filled with joy. He just wished for the next day to come quickly so he could meet the young people who had brought him such a surprise, with such a wonderful spring.
The next morning, before arriving, the young couple called Mr. Phe to ask if anyone was home and where they could meet. He said that everyone was busy with their own work, so he was home alone. “It would be best to meet at the alley with hibiscus trees in my house. Will you guys be able to find your way there?” The girl seemed to be trying to sweeten her words: “Yes, we did.”
There they are. Mr. Phe almost exclaimed when he saw the two delivery people. They were dressed so elegantly. The two strangers showed him a flyer with a picture of a gray SH motorbike, and handed him a large box of health food. The girl said: “We work professionally, bringing surprise and satisfaction to our customers. We hope you are happy and healthy.”
When Mr. Phe withdrew the money and was about to give it, from the alley entrance, Tien shouted: "Dad, don't give it to me." He and another young man rushed over and stopped the couple.
- Dad, these are people who often scam people, why did you trust them and give them money?
At this time, a few other villagers also came. Tien explained: Several people in our village have been scammed, don't you know? This is an old lottery trick. They also gave you fake health food, taking it will only make you sicker. Dad, let me call the police.
It turned out that since yesterday, Tien had vaguely heard his father talking to a stranger. Then, seeing that he was acting strangely, he secretly followed him. This morning, Tien lied that he was going to work, but asked his friends in the village to help him find a way to surround the scammers. As for him, he hid in the garden and waited for the "reward house" to come and then rushed out.
At this moment, Mr. Phe understood everything. Tien laughed dryly and approached his father:
- I know you're going to print poetry. If I hadn't stopped them, you would have lost your money. Now, I'll give you the money to print the book, and you can keep the rest.
The village poet was proud and silently thanked his son for teaching him a lesson. Two commune policemen appeared, did an administrative check, and then took the two strangers to the headquarters. At this time, Mr. Truong and Mr. Ngu also ran over. Mr. Truong told Mr. Phe: "You received the news of winning the prize and you wanted to take advantage of it, but you didn't tell us. Luckily these scammers are unprofessional, otherwise if you had encountered a skilled one, you would have lost your money."
Outside the alley, rows of hibiscus and roses are blooming brightly, gently swaying in the wind...
Source: https://baophapluat.vn/hoa-thom-day-ngo-post542392.html
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