Six months. That was how long an 11-year-old boy from Hebei province, China, went without treats to save, yuan by yuan, the money he was given each week. According to the account that circulated, those one-yuan coins and banknotes, each worth about 14 cents, were the money for food and treats he stopped buying for himself.
When he had finally saved about 200 yuan, nearly 28 dollars, he walked into a shoe store with the wad of cash in his hand. He wasn’t looking for anything for himself. He had noticed that the shoes his mom wore to work were old and worn out, and he wanted to give her a new pair for her birthday.
The shop owner heard who the shoes were for and how hard he had worked to save the money. She gave him a special discount: the white sneakers ended up costing just over 100 yuan. She suggested he save the rest of his savings and told him his mom could exchange them if she didn’t like them.
The shopkeeper recorded the moment because she wanted to show it to her own daughter. The video reached millions of people, according to the South China Morning Post. When the mother was asked how she had raised such a son, she replied that she had never taught him with words: he had learned by watching how the family cared for the elders at home.
Sometimes the best gift isn’t the most expensive one, but the one someone quietly prepares, thinking only of another person’s happiness.