He was a delivery guy and started dropping off her orders online 4 years ago. First, they were simply items 31-year-old Hien needed for his household.
But as an experienced carrier, Chuong noticed that over time, deliveries seemed to become free:
“There were six orders yesterday, and today there are 30 more,” he told her one day with feigned bewilderment. “You really are a shopaholic,” he then said with a smirk.
Hien, an office worker in Ho Chi Minh City’s Tan Binh District, couldn’t help but laugh and blush slightly at Chuong’s adorable jokes…
It was the halcyon days of 2019, when the 26-year-old stayed up late most nights “looking for sales,” as she puts it, on e-commerce platforms.
As a result, Chuong would arrive at her doorstep with hundreds of packages every month, sometimes an entire sleigh’s worth in a single visit, just like Santa Claus.
Eventually, the constant exchanges familiarized the two strangers.
Chuong now admits that it was impossible for his natural interest to be aroused “at least a little”, at least a “little bit” by the pretty young woman who called him more and more regularly at his door.
Unfortunately, it was often Hien’s mother who was the recipient when Hien, a frenzied shopper, was at work. Mom would occasionally compliment the handsome delivery man on his good looks and helpfulness as he brought heavy boxes to her house and then arranged them carefully.
Eventually, Hien noticed his mother’s unnecessarily friendly words toward the kind, intelligent, and capable worker who was now a fixture both outside and inside their home most days of the week .
To learn more about Chuong, Hien visited his Facebook profile. She couldn’t help but notice the brightness of his smile. All he and she had discussed over the past two years was products and shipping issues. But now she wanted to know what was hidden behind the brilliant shine on his face…
In early 2021, Chuong and his client began to connect on a deeper level when Hien changed his Facebook profile picture to a self-drawn picture of a character from a video game. Chuong then knew that his loyal customer was playing the same game that he also loved.
So, taking the proverbial risk, he invited her to play their favorite game together… and she accepted.
They had fun as online gaming friends-turned-rivals, but Chuong’s supportive member unfortunately broke down when, after three or four gaming sessions, he invited Hien out for coffee.
She refused!
Hien now says she refused partly because she was “shy”, but also because, as is Vietnamese custom, she was not used to “going out” with men younger than her.
“Very good,” Chuong thought.
But the more the two unlikely friends talked, the more the Saigon girl enjoyed her time with “the guy from Binh Dinh, (a central coastal province).”
Hien said it was Chuong’s sincere and humble way of speaking to her – and not “about her” – that won her over. She felt “seen”. She even decided to start ordering more items from the store where Chuong’s deliveries came from.
And then soon enough, Chuong improved his own tactics as well.
He was now sure that the girl who had previously rejected him was signaling to him that she now actually wanted to meet him.
“Patience paid off!” he was thinking.
So Chuong started holding all of Hien’s deliveries until after business hours on Saturdays and Sundays so that he could arrive when she was free and be able to share a little more time with him before they continued each with their own distinct missions.
She would either send her mother away or just pretend like no one was home, but not before letting out a sneeze or cough that Chuong, the bearer, could hear outside.
However, in response, Chuong was also wise and smart with his texts: “I saw you in the house, but you didn’t dare to come out and collect your things.”
She knew then that he was not afraid of her games and that he was ready to play the game, convinced that he could win. Very quickly, the two men regularly exchanged “friendly” texts.
Times change, love doesn’t
Seemingly out of nowhere, the Covid-19 pandemic suddenly confined the city. Now, Chuong was no longer able to make deliveries directly to Hien.
She had to go to special contactless drop-off locations to collect the goods herself, without being near other people.
No longer able to meet his favorite customer in person, Chuong begged his residence security guard to let him drop off his deliveries in front of Hien’s house.
Maintaining social distancing, Chuong stopped at the door of Hien’s house, took a photo of his delivery and texted: “I delivered your things to the entrance.”
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Chuong and Hien on their wedding day, January 2023. Photo courtesy of Chuong and Hien |
Deprived of human contact for so long, Hien almost melted when she saw the photo. Then his heart started beating harder than it ever had.
The couple began exchanging even more frequent text messages and phone calls. They discovered they had a lot in common.
Hien saw that Chuong was not only a college graduate, but also very intelligent. He only started delivering after his job as an English tour guide went bust during Covid. However, that didn’t mean he was good at the intricacies of modern ‘dating’.
After three months of correspondence, Chuong went to Hien’s house with a bag full of gifts. He only chose items that his customers had praised, but most of them didn’t suit Hien at all.
“The moment I received the gifts. I felt funny and sad for him because he had been clumsy in selecting and purchasing. [irrelevant low-quality] cosmetics… he must have simply asked others for advice without understanding the quality of the products.
But even this fateful blunder became a weakness that Hien admired in his admirer.
After the gifts, she realized how attracted she was to Chuong’s adorable honesty. Gifts, whatever they are, truly come from his heart.
And so, when Chuong finally put his heart on the line and asked the girl he liked if she would be his official girlfriend…
…she says…:
…Yes.
Hien’s parents previously only knew Chuong as their delivery man. He was a polite delivery man, but nonetheless only a delivery man.
After Hien told her mother that she and the courteous courier had declared their mutual love for each other, the midwife reminded her daughter – either learnedly, or astutely, or both – to think carefully before acting further. to any emotional decision.
The fact is that when she was younger, Hien was one of the top beauty pageant contestants in Ho Chi Minh City. Hien’s mother also reminded her smitten daughter that she was not, and had never been, lacking in courtliness and desirable suitors.
But without hesitation, Hien reassured her mother that Chuong possessed an authenticity and modesty that she had not found in any of the bachelors who had ever approached her. And it was this quality that she finally realized she was truly looking for as the one true trait that could bring her happiness in a life partner.
Chuong began to work even harder, striving for promotion in order to allay Hien’s parents’ fears.
Over the next 12 months, Chuong pushed hard to achieve a barely achievable 99% delivery rate on all orders and was recognized by his company as “Top Shipper of the Year.”
Chuong then passed the promotion exam in March 2022, surpassing hundreds of applications and becoming a manager of 20 employees.
Hien’s parents gradually became more open to Chuong’s efforts as they gained a deeper understanding of his genuine and caring character.
After more than a year of dating, the couple got married in January 2023, with the support of both families. When Chuong gave the ring to his wife, he promised that he would never stop working hard so that his family would always have a fulfilling life.
These days, Hien said Chuong hasn’t changed even a little bit since the moment he fell in love with her: he is still gentle and calm and has never raised his voice towards his wife.
In fact, the only negative, she says, is actually positive: He doesn’t let her stay up late at night “hunting” for bargains to ship to his door.
And she can now admit that she’s already found the best deal possible.
In fact, she knows that Chuong is the best deal life has to offer.
