Chapter 14: A Gift from the Heart
Wandering around the shopping mall, Kieu Ly still had no idea what to buy, so she sighed and said to Huong Tra:
"I just got paid from tutoring—it's a decent amount. But Hoang Anh's family is so rich, he already has everything. I don't know what to get him."
Huong Tra furrowed her brows in thought. Indeed, Hoang Anh's family was wealthy, so for Kieu Ly to give him a gift, she had tried hard to save up just so she could come to this luxurious mall and look for an expensive brand-name item. If Huong Tra were in Hoang Anh's position, she'd be happy but also feel a bit uncomfortable knowing Kieu Ly had spent all her money like that.
Huong Tra said:
"He already has plenty of material things. You should give him something with emotional value instead."
Kieu Ly turned to ask:
"Emotional value?"
Huong Tra nodded:
"Honestly, it's the time spent creating memories that's truly precious. Material things aren't what matter most."
Seeing Kieu Ly suddenly fall into deep thought, Huong Tra continued:
"For example, a pair of movie tickets, or a travel voucher, or a homemade meal, or even something handmade."
Kieu Ly hesitated. Right now, both she and Hoang Anh still lived with their families, so a homemade meal or a trip didn't seem practical. And though she was academically gifted, she was clumsy at just about everything else—so handmade gifts were also out of the question. Instead, she invited Huong Tra into a clothing store. She picked out two identical dresses, gave one to Huong Tra to try on, and brought the other into the fitting room. Their body shapes were similar, so both looked great in the dresses. Standing in front of the mirror, admiring themselves, both nodded in approval. Huong Tra laughed brightly:
"Approved. We look just like Thuy Van and Thuy Kieu!"
Kieu Ly cheerfully went to pay and handed one of the dresses to Huong Tra:
"Here, this one's for you. A thank-you gift for being my solid backup while I conquer that little devil."
Huong Tra was a bit surprised but gladly accepted it. A while later, Kieu Ly led her into a more expensive fashion store and picked out a matching couple's shirt set.
Huong Tra pouted:
"You give your friend average stuff, but your boyfriend gets high-end brands? Classic lovestruck fool."
Kieu Ly grinned and teased back:
"Don't be so jealous. You're scaring me."
After buying the clothes, they stopped by the cinema to get a pair of movie tickets, then headed down to the parking lot to grab their motorbike and return to their boarding house. Having bought the gift, Kieu Ly felt a sense of relief. She imagined a romantic Tet holiday with her boyfriend.
But little did they expect, when they got to the parking lot, both of their helmets were gone.
Kieu Ly looked at Huong Tra and sighed:
"Our helmets got stolen. What rotten luck."
Huong Tra grumbled and cursed:
"Whoever stole our helmets
May they grow fur all over their body in their sleep tonight."
Kieu Ly burst out laughing at that.
They had assumed that in such a fancy mall, theft wouldn't be a problem, so they'd left their helmets out carelessly. Their overconfidence led to this. Kieu Ly left all the bags with Huong Tra and went back inside the mall to buy two new helmets.
Back at their boarding house, the two girls quickly tidied up their room, said goodbye to the landlord, and happily headed home for the holiday.