A Beautiful Surprise

PART-3 : A BEAUTIFUL SURPRISE

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I noticed Chris and Chan’s parents discussing how they would send their children to school for college. Because they seem to be short on funds to send their sons to college. I reacted to their argument quickly, hmm ya know, don’t you know yet? Suddenly, the two stopped and asked me, “What is that?” I almost said anything, but I recalled hearing about what these gentlemen did from school. So I avoided speaking about it and instead greeted them a wonderful day ahead. And I simply smiled and pretended I had no idea what was going on.

I met Chris and Chan along the way, who were carrying boxes, trays and smiling a me while greeting me a nice day, and they even told me, come to our place later for a little gathering. I replied, “No problem, I’ll come later, I’ll just look at the plants and take care of them,” and the guys thanked me.

It’s late afternoon and I’m on my way home; when I came, it was only the beginning of a little party. The two simply put together the party and held it at Chan’s place. Come here, Chan’s parents said, because these boys have a surprise for us. Yes, I’ll go there. The parents of the two children are still clueless. They said that the two of them invited me for a light meal.

When I arrived, the first thing I saw were the bamboos, which were around 100mm in diameter and one meter long, if I remember correctly. They carefully placed up 12 pieces of bamboo on the side to make it even more unnoticeable. The mail was unrecognized by the two’s parents since they packed it in another envelope to disguise the university’s emblem and just numbers 1 and 2 can be seen.

We’ll pray first, followed by a small celebration. Before we ate, Chris gave his mother the number one envelope and Chan gave him the number two envelope. Then their mother immediately open the envelop. At the same time, their parents were shocked and asked, “What are all these boy?” And the two cheerfully responded: Chris spoke to his mother and father, “Mom and Dad, I passed the university scholarship offer,” while Chan’s mother and father added, “I also took the test at the same school and I passed.”

And as I’m listening to them, I’m eating and watching them. But then their moms burst out crying, and their fathers were astonished, not knowing what to say to their children. The party was about to finish, but their moms’ cries were not over, cries brought on by the surprise and immense delight they had experienced. Their parents told me, “Godspeed to our children.” What a wonderful surprise I witnessed to be learnt. A very basic method of two youngsters that would be a huge help they were able to perform even at such a young age. The bamboo banks were still standing on the side, which their parents apparently failed to notice.

We finished the party and walked out there on the balcony to chat over a cup of coffee. And the children began to say, “Mom, Dad, we still have a surprise for you.” Mom and Dad both pointed at the bamboo banks at the same moment. That’s meaningful: those bamboos aren’t that simple. Their parents are still confused as to what they mean. Chan continued to speak, half of which was for Chris and the other half for myself.

In other words, the two grabbed each sack at a time and gently opened the bamboo bank and emptied the contents with a loud chime, and their parents understood what they meant. I witnessed their dads’ tears here. The coffee we made has cooled, however the accounting of the two’s accumulated money has not yet completed.

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