The first visit...
Let's back track a bit to Truc's story after he left his friends. The day after Truc quitted school he inherited a large amount of land from his grandparents on his mother's side. Through hard work and knowing how to turn the land around, Truc was able to make the land rich in ten years and became well off.
Even though he was rich, he did not want to lose a dollar, a quarter, or even a penny to anyone. Because of this, Truc had forgotten the words of promise between the three friends in the past."AW Heck! Why waste your time searching? The other people did not bother to find you or I."
With that thought, Truc felt very secure with all his actions and words. When Tung first saw how rich his friend was, he wanted to test how true the feelings were so he did not say anything about his current life. The only thing that Tung told Truc was that he missed his friend so he wanted to find and visit him.
Judging from Tung's appearance, Truc guessed he only had enough to eat and only came to rekindle the friendship to ask for money. The thought floated with Truc as he pretended his life was still in difficulty and went on to tell Tung.
"To tell you the truth, if it were not because of past recent business trips then I would not be losing to anyone. Earlier I was considering finding you in the North but after so many bad droughts continuously and then there was a famine, I had to mortgage some of my acres and it was not until recently that I finished paying it off."
Truc went on and on about his so-called hardships in order to zip Tung's mouth if he had any thoughts about asking for money. To continue with the charade of his life of poverty, Truc gave his friend a small, simple dinner. The next morning before everyone woke up,
Truc went to the cook and asked him to make a fish net and worms for his next plan. While Truc showed Tung around the property, they came upon the cook. Truc yelled at the cook, "Hey!'Dan bat kha ha tri' (at 3 do not let the net down). Don't you remember the old saying?! Why do you want to fish at this hour? Do you want me to go bankrupt?"
The servant caught the owner's meaning and quietly left the scene. That afternoon when the chickens returned to their coop, Truc's wife told the house servant to pick the plumpest chicken to kill. Before the chicken could be killed, Truc ran into the kitchen screaming,
"Ey! At 4 you should not kill birds! Even if your friend should visit, you should still not kill. It is highly forbidden."
Tung was done witnessing how Truc's life was and continued onto Mai's house, the second friend who lived through hardships with Tung during his school years. Still in his commoner's clothes, Tung arrived at Mai's house and just as before at Truc's, he did not mentioned anything about his life.
初访
让我们把时间往回拉。话说特吕克与好友别离后,他继承了外祖父的大规模的土地。他知道怎样去经营这块土地,通过艰苦的工作,他在十年间迅速致富。
虽然有钱,他不想失去一分一厘。所以,他忘记了当初的承诺,过去的誓言。“神啊!何必花时间去找呢?谁知道他们会不会花时间找我呢?”
这样一想,特吕克就心安理得了。
当东看到他的第一眼,他就看出他的朋友有多富有了。他想考验一下他,看看他内心的最真实的情感。所以,他隐瞒了自己生活。仅仅告诉特吕克他是如此地想他,多么迫切地要造访他而已。
打量了一下东的外表,特吕克猜想东的收入只能勉强维持生计,如今来找他只是为了特吕克通过叙旧从他身上榨点钱。心存这个想法,他就假装他仍然生活艰难,并重复告诉东这点。
“说实话,如果不是最近出差,我绝不输给任何人。前阶段,我还想去北方找找你,但最近旱灾不断,饥荒太严重了,而且我的按揭最近才付清。”
为了让东不开口问他借钱,特吕克喋喋不休的诉说着所谓的困境。同时,为了使东相信自己生活贫困,特吕克只提供了简单的晚餐。次日一起床,特吕克就跑去找厨师,要他做个渔网,并找些蚯蚓——他已想出了下一个鬼主意,并在努力的付诸实践。
当特吕克带着东参观他的产业时,他们遇上了厨师。特吕克对厨子嚷道:“你忘了'Dan bat kha ha tri'(意为3点不撒网。)这句老话了吗?为何要在这个时候捕鱼呢?你想要我破产啊?“
仆人知道了主人的意图,悄悄地离开了。日暮西山,小鸡回舍,特吕克的妻子让仆人宰掉最肥的那只鸡,特吕克跑进厨房尖叫道:“嘿!4点不能杀鸡,即使你朋友到访也不行。这是强烈禁止的事。”
东目睹了特吕克的生活,打算去拜访麦了。即使在临行前,东也没对特吕克说起自己的生活。