The Red Envelope from a Quarter of a Century Ago

Translated…

The quiet and undisturbed passage next to the creek was my early morning running routes, every time I’d passed through the park that’s hidden in this passage, I’d completely, enjoyed the morning sunshine, the gentle breezes, as well as the sounds from the creek, it was, truly, a blessing of nature to me.

On this particular day, an elderly person caught up with me and asked, “You were, a counselor, weren’t you?”, “Hmmmmmmmm, some twenty odd years ago, I had.”  “Come, I want to show you something!”, the elderly man led me into an old activities center (Which had now become a museum for the retired army village), handed me a red envelope.

not my picture…

“It’s yours, right?”, the elderly man asked.

I focused my eyes, holy, this………

The elderly man let out a sigh of relief, said, “I’d finally, found you alas!  On New Year’s Eve twenty-five years ago, you were the liaison officer here, as the officers came to hand out the red envelopes, I’d not gotten one, and was just feeling, real upset ‘bout it, you’d handed me a red envelope, wished me a happy New Year!”

I’d said hurriedly, “You’d taken it already, it’s yours then, why would you need to return it back to me?”

The elderly’s eyes turned red, told me, “Later on, as I’d flipped to the back side, it had, ‘Wishing So-and-So Platoon Counselor a Happy New Year’, turns out, it was the red envelope from your superior officer, how can I, Chou, take the red envelope from you?  But, I’m still, truly, grateful for your kindness.  It’s been twenty-five years since, I just couldn’t manage to, track you down, and now, I’d finally gotten the chance to return this red envelope to its rightful owner, otherwise, I’m already, ninety-five this year, I don’t know how many years I would have, for tracking you down………”

not my photo still…

The very next day, I’d brought along a pork gift set (the gifts being given in the early years in the retired army villages), plus another red envelope to visit the elderly man.

The elderly man hollered out at me, “It’d taken me, long enough, to finally track you down and return the original red envelope back to you, you’d come here to give me another, please, don’t give me any more troubles here!”

I’d smiled, “haha, look here, on the red envelope, it’d said, ‘Uncle Chou’, this time, you wouldn’t need to return it again.  Happy New Year, and, thank you, for helping me find that scent of the New Year’s tradition again!”

And so, this, is how people are brought closer to each other by the holiday seasons, you’d recalled the kindness from others from the years before, and, on this special occasion, you’d wanted to, return the kindness back to the individual who’d shown the kindness to you, and this, is what keeps people connected for the rest of the year too…