The couple met in mid-2023 when Nguyen Duy Son Khe (24, HCMC) was a final-year communications student, while Truong Thi Thu Loan (41 years old, from Binh Thuan, now Lam Dong province) worked as a livestream assistant for a company.

They met at several events. In Khe’s eyes, Loan was a lively, energetic woman.

But one evening was different: after the event ended, Loan sat crying alone in a corner of the lobby. Seeing this, Khe approached and asked: “You’re always a proud, confident woman. Why are you like this now?”

Loan opened up and shared everything with Khe. She had been battling illness for a long time, burdened with heavy debt, and was carrying the responsibility of raising a college-aged son and a 6-year-old daughter. The weight on her shoulders was suffocating her.

“Khe was only 24, but when talking to me, it felt like I was talking to a man over 40. I sensed his maturity and steadiness,” Loan shared.

For Khe, the moment he saw this woman in tears, heard her life story, and saw the worried look when calling her young daughter staying home alone he knew his heart had already belonged to her.

“I’m an only child, loved and protected by my parents my whole life. I couldn’t bear seeing a little girl staying home alone without her mother. At that moment, I just wanted to hold Loan and share her burden,” Khe said.

After that talk, Khe learned more about Loan. He knew she was a single mother, striving daily to give her children the best life. He realized that she resembled his mother, from the way she cooked to the way she cared for the home.

“For me, age doesn’t matter, only awareness and skills to build a family. I knew Loan was the woman I was looking for,” Khe said.

Since then, Son Khe began his journey of pursuing the single mom, anticipating that it wouldn’t be easy to win her trust after all the pain she had endured.

Love against opposition

One day, Khe invited Loan to a cafe. He said, “Please let me stay by your side for now. Once you recover and clear your debts, I’ll leave.” Loan was stunned.

That afternoon, Loan followed Khe to return home while his parents were away. Realizing that Khe was an only child in the family and was raised well, she felt both admiration and emptiness. She thought this young man wasn’t for her.

“If I let Khe stay by myself, I’d ruin his future. I’ve suffered enough, why would I drag someone with a bright future into hardship with me? I decided to reject this love,” Loan said.

But what Loan didn’t expect was Khe’s fierce devotion. He pursued her relentlessly, not just with messages but with daily care, meals and clothes.

Khe visited her home, befriended her older son, and cared for her little daughter. His kindness moved Loan, though outwardly she still insisted on rejecting him.

She even contacted Khe’s father to share everything, asking him to persuade Khe to give up. Khe’s family was shocked. His father tried everything to talk sense into him, and his mother was so distressed that she ended up hospitalized.

“That was a time of despair, but I still trusted my own choice,” Khe said.

Eventually, Khe moved out and his parents cut all financial support. To cover living expenses, he took on all kinds of work, from livestreaming to selling goods, to washing motorbikes. Yet, in those hard times, he had the greatest joy: the woman he loved accepted his feelings.

When Khe moved in with Loan and her children, they began a new battle together - fighting to build a better life for themselves and the kids.

To pay for Loan’s treatment, Khe didn’t hesitate to sell his beloved motorbike. Every day, they washed their vehicles together, and at night, they took on livestream jobs for various brands. Though exhausted and struggling, they had each other to lean on, sharing hardship and joy.

“In 2024, feeling suffocated and overwhelmed by life in HCMC, we decided to move back to our hometown in Lam Dong. After a while, we brought the kids up to Da Lat and chose this place to settle down,” Loan said.

In early 2025, their son Mori was born, becoming a powerful bond between the couple.

“After all the hardship, we’ve finally tasted the fruit of our perseverance. It’s a reward we both truly deserve,” Khe said.

Thanh Minh