'Screen prince' and his unique way of giving lucky money on the first morning

Although he is in a period of strong development with a chain of restaurants and a new film project, the actorCome home, sonStill prioritize spending time with family during Lunar New Year.

For Quoc Truong, the most memorable Tet memory was when he was in primary school, when he was still an innocent, carefree boy. "At that time, every time I heard that Tet was only a month away, I was happy because I could buy new clothes. In the past, our economy was not so good, so we could only buy new clothes on Tet, so I was more excited. But now, sometimes we don't even buy clothes for Tet," the actor recalled.

Time is the most meaningful Tet gift for parents

Now that he is successful and financially well-off, Quoc Truong believes that the most meaningful gift to give his parents is time. "My parents no longer lack anything. They have a house, and although they don't have much money, it's enough to be happy. What they need most now is their children's time with their family," the actor confided.

Despite living 200 km away from home and being busy with business and taking on the lead role in a movie, the actor still arranged to return home from the 26th of Tet. "I spent the 24th and 25th of Tet in Saigon to meet friends and celebrate the end of the year. Then around the 26th and 27th of Tet, I returned home to my family and stayed until my parents 'kicked me out'," he humorously shared.

Quoc Truong said: "When the family is together, we are almost always together, no one is separated. When the children go out to eat with friends, their parents go with them, or when the parents go out to eat with relatives, my brother and I go with them. From the 26th of Tet until the 7th or 10th of Tet, the family is always together," he said.

On the 28th and 29th of Tet, he often takes his parents to buy flowers to decorate the house. Quoc Truong's father - a former lecturer at the Faculty of Agriculture at Can Tho University - is very knowledgeable about ornamental plants, so the house is always filled with flowers and apricot trees during Tet. "If we are lucky enough to come back at the right time, the whole family picks apricot leaves together. Otherwise, around the 29th of Tet, I take my family to buy flowers to decorate the house," Quoc Truong said.

The kitchen corner of Tet is rich in flavor and the unique custom of giving lucky money

Quoc Truong and his mother are the ones who cook for the family during Tet. He inherited his passion for cooking from his mother: "I can cook almost any dish my mother can cook, just not as delicious as hers."

The traditional dishes that are indispensable in Quoc Truong's Tet meal have a strong Western flavor such as braised pork in wine, bitter melon soup, pickled onions... "These are dishes that must be available every year and must be cooked every year," the actor shared.

This year, instead of going to Vung Tau like previous years, Quoc Truong plans to take his family on a spring trip to Dong Thap on the third day of Tet. He explained: "A few years ago, I went to Vung Tau but the traffic was so bad that it turned from a trip into a journey of self-torture, so it was quite impressive and scary. My parents are getting old, so this year I will take them to Dong Thap to have a little change of scenery."

In particular, Quoc Truong's family has a unique way of giving lucky money on the morning of the first day of the New Year. There are 6 members in the family, including 4 adults and 2 children. For the children, he gives a specific amount of lucky money. As for the 4 older members, he will exchange a new stack of money, then divide it into 4 parts for everyone to choose.

"In these 4 piles, the amount of money will be different - some piles will have more, some piles will have a few less bills. After choosing and counting, some people will be happy because they chose the pile with more bills, but some will also feel a bit regretful, not because they are sad because they have less money, but jokingly say: 'If I had known, I would have chosen the other pile!'

The atmosphere at that time was very bustling and happy. In return, my parents and siblings also gave me lucky money, but it was just symbolic. For me, that was enough to be happy."