Young boy saves pocket money for 6 months to buy shoes for ₹2,000 on his mother's birthday: Social media melts

An 11-year-old boy in northern China has touched many hearts with a simple but meaningful gesture. The school student saved his pocket money for nearly six months to buy a birthday gift for his mother. Every day, he set aside one yuan ( ₹13) at a time.

Then, one day, the boy walked into a shoe shop. He carried a thick stack of one-yuan notes, adding up to around 200 yuan ( ₹2,600).

The young boy told the shop owner that he wanted to buy shoes for his mother to wear during her daily commute. He noticed that her old shoes were worn out. He simply wanted to replace them.

Moved by the boy’s honesty and care, the shop owner offered him a special discount. She sold him a pair of white trainers 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 gift could be exchanged if needed.

“If you take them, and your mom finds they don’t fit, just ask her to come here herself and exchange them. You know where the shop is, right?” she is heard saying to the young boy.

The shop owner later shared a video of the moment. She said that she wanted to show it to her own daughter as a lesson in kindness and gratitude.

“This child is really something. This child has truly come to repay kindness,” she says in the video.

The shop owner’s video quickly went viral on Chinese social media. It garnered millions of views, with nearly 4.5 lakh likes and 28,000 comments.

Local media later identified the boy as Zhang, a Grade 5 student. He said the money came from the weekly pocket money his grandmother gave him for snacks. He saved it patiently for months.

Zhang’s mother later shared a video of herself trying on the shoes. She said she was deeply surprised and thanked her son and the shop owner.

She added that they never taught him such values directly. He learned simply by watching how the family cared for elders at home.

“It surprised me that he quietly learned from our actions,” SCMP quoted her as saying.

“I'll charge him 10 yuan, give him a pair of shoes that cost 300 yuan, and I'll make up the remaining 290 yuan. That's all based on my dedication to teaching him,” wrote one of them.

“Why don't you just send a private message to the shop owner to transfer the money for free? And then contact the child's parents to buy a few more pairs,” wrote another.

Another replied, “Those who ask the shop owner to give them a pair of shoes for free are out of their minds. It's a good thing that the child is sensible, but what does that have to do with the shop owner?”

One user quipped, “My son said that when he grows up, the first thing he'll do is join the army. And, the first thing he'll do when he gets a gun is shoot me.”

One user noticed that the child himself was wearing shoes of two different colours.

“The shoes were two different colours, and the cotton-padded coat must have been torn. He actually saved his allowance to buy his mother a new pair of shoes. What a thoughtful child!” the user wrote.