An 11-year-old boy from northern China touched many hearts with a simple but meaningful gesture. The school student saved his pocket money for almost six months to buy a birthday present for his mother. Every day he put aside one yuan ( ₹13) at once.
Then one day a boy walked into a shoe store. He was carrying a thick stack of one-yuan bills, totaling about 200 yuan ( ₹2,600).
The boy told the store owner that he wanted to buy his mother shoes for her daily commute. He noticed that her old shoes were worn out. He just wanted to replace them.
Read also | Wife finds out about husband’s affair, gets ₹25 million from the other woman
The shop owner, moved by the boy’s honesty and care, offered him a special discount. She sold him a pair of white sneakers for just over 100 yuan ( ₹1,300), according to the South China Morning Post.
She asked him to keep the remaining money. The owner also assured him that the birthday present could be exchanged if needed.
“If you take them and your mom finds out they don’t fit, ask her to come here herself and exchange them. You know where the store is, right?” he is heard telling the young boy.
The shop owner later shared a video of the moment. She said she wanted to show it to her own daughter as a lesson in kindness and gratitude.
“This kid is really something. This kid really came to return the favor,” he says in the video.
Read also | Teenager earns ₹5 crore through fake refunds, exploiting e-commerce loophole
The store owner’s video quickly went viral on Chinese social media. It has received millions of views with almost 4.5 million likes and 28,000 comments.
Local media later identified the boy as Zhang, a Grade 5 student. The money was said to have come from the weekly pocket money his grandmother gave him for snacks. He had been patiently saving it for months.
Zhang’s mother later shared a video of her trying on the shoes. She said she was deeply surprised and thanked her son and the shop owner.
She added that he was never directly taught such values. He learned simply by watching the family take care of the elderly at home.
“I was surprised that he quietly learned from our actions,” SCMP quoted her as saying.
Reaction on social networks
Social media users reacted to the viral video.
“I will charge him 10 yuan, give him a pair of shoes that cost 300 yuan, and top up the remaining 290 yuan. This is all based on my determination to teach him,” wrote one of them.
“Why don’t you just PM the store owner to transfer the money for free? And then contact the kid’s parents to buy a few more pairs,” wrote another.
Read also | Full-time dad suffers from postnatal depression, feels ‘wasted’
Another replied: “Those who ask a shop owner to give them a free pair of shoes have no sense. It’s good that a child is sensible, but what does that have to do with the shop owner?”
One user joked: “My son said when he grows up the first thing he’s going to do is join the army. And the first thing he’s going to do when he gets a gun is shoot me.”
One user noticed that the child himself was wearing two different colored shoes.
“The shoes were two different colors and the cotton-lined coat must have been torn. He actually saved his allowance to buy his mother new shoes. What a thoughtful child!” written by the user.
