Sitting in his office, Vyacheslav relaxed back into his soft chair with a satisfied smile on his face. He couldn’t stop marveling at how his restaurant, now the pride of the city, had gained such great fame.
The restaurant owner ordered a homeless old woman to finish her bread and leave immediately! But soon he fell to his knees in front of her and sobbed… The best restaurants nearby
And clearly thanks to the sophisticated cuisine and a well-coordinated professional team, and, of course, the excellent atmosphere. In his thoughts, Vyacheslav returned to his long journey towards his dream, which lasted more than 20 years, starting in the challenging nineties. At that time, he had to make decisions instantly and often take risks to survive in a fiercely competitive environment.
Remembering that period, Vyacheslav thought especially warmly of his grandfather, Leonid Makarovich. The grandfather undoubtedly played a decisive role in his success when, despite his age, he made an important decision—to sell the family dacha and pass the money to his grandson. Leonid Makarovich said that they no longer needed the dacha and that he saw in his grandson a person ready for business.
These funds became the starting capital for Vyacheslav’s restaurant ventures. Starting with opening a small snack bar at the local market, then a cafe near the station, he worked tirelessly and gradually expanded his business. His efforts and pursuit of perfection led to, after years, his restaurant becoming the best in town, proud to have a famous chef from Italy.
This path was not easy, but each decision made and every step taken proved justified, gradually leading the businessman to achieve the dream of his lifetime. And here, the man’s pleasant reflections were suddenly interrupted by quiet voices outside his office door.
Veronika, one of the waitresses, was discontentedly sharing with a colleague her indignation about an elderly woman who often appeared near the restaurant and annoyed all the employees. Vyacheslav approached the window and saw the old woman on the street, looking very poor and untidy. Although she was not very old, her terrible slovenliness aged her, as clearly indicated by her dirty clothes, tangled gray hair, and gray face.
The woman stood, staring intently at the restaurant windows, where guests were enjoying their exquisite dishes. She just swallowed her saliva greedily and was obviously very hungry. At that moment, a quiet knock sounded in Vyacheslav’s office.
The same waitress Veronika peeked in, and her face expressed great anxiety. With a slight tremble in her voice, she informed Vyacheslav Ivanovich that the unpleasant situation with the homeless woman had recurred. Experiencing an involuntary irritation, Vyacheslav immediately asked where the security guard was, as he was supposed to handle such matters, not the restaurant owner.
Maria, another waitress, also appeared in the doorway and quickly added that the security guard had already tried to drive the woman away, but she had returned. Vyacheslav didn’t want his restaurant to be the center of unwanted attention, as this homeless old woman clearly repelled customers. Every time visitors noticed her at the restaurant windows, their faces showed expressions of disgust, which, of course, negatively affected the atmosphere and the guests’ appetite.
Understanding that the situation required immediate resolution, Vyacheslav decided not to delay solving the problem. He immediately called the police, asking them to maintain order as tactfully and without unnecessary fuss as possible, and to simply take this woman away from his restaurant. The police officers promptly arrived at the scene, carefully placed the old woman in a car, and drove her away, without attracting the attention of bystanders. The best restaurants nearby
Vyacheslav watched attentively what was happening, pondering what could have brought this woman to the streets. Memories of his grandmother Anna, who, along with his grandfather, Leonid Makarovich, had raised him from the age of five after the tragic death of his father, surfaced in his mind. He barely remembered his mother, as she had simply disappeared from his life shortly after her husband’s death.
As a child, little Slava often listened to his grandparents’ stories about how his mother had gone far away. But deep down, he always continued to wait for her return. He cried for a long time, feeling abandoned, and even tried to find her by writing several letters to the police, asking for help.
However, his touching letters were returned to his grandfather, who worked in the city administration. When the family was about to move to the capital, little Slava firmly stated, “What if Mom comes back, and I’m not here? How will she find me then?” These childhood fears and grievances lived in his heart for a long time, but life took its course.
And over the years, memories of his mother faded, giving way to new concerns and achievements. And then one day, in the midst of another heated argument, his grandmother, completely losing patience, shouted something terrible: “Your mother died a long time ago!” Adding a second later that she probably just froze somewhere by a fence from alcohol and cold.
Slava froze in shock, unable to believe what he had heard. His grandfather immediately protested, criticizing the grandmother for her harsh words, insisting that such things should not be said, especially in front of a child. Turning away, the grandmother immediately began to cry, confessing that she could no longer carry this pain, which was literally tearing her heart apart.
Approaching her, the grandfather gently embraced her and whispered something in her ear, trying to calm her down. Then, turning to Slava, they called him over to them and began to reassure him that they would always be there to support and surround him with love, despite all the difficulties and bitterness they had endured together. Slava was completely confused, unable to believe that his mother, whom he remembered as so beautiful and joyful, would never return.
He had waited for her so long, hoping that one day she would appear on the doorstep. Over time, the pain gradually subsided and eventually faded from his memory. However, his beloved grandfather, true to his word, was always there, supporting Slava in all his endeavors, using all his connections and financial resources to help his grandson succeed.
When Vyacheslav opened his first small restaurant, his grandmother and grandfather were already very elderly. They passed away one after the other in the same year his establishment began to bear its first fruits. By that time, Vyacheslav had already started his own family, which helped him cope more easily with the loss. Takeout orders from restaurants
In marriage with his beloved Liliya, whom he considered the ideal woman, he found his true happiness. They had a wonderful son, Ivan, named after Slava’s father. When the grandparents learned that they would soon have a great-grandson, their joy was simply boundless.
Over time, Vyacheslav and Liliya had a daughter. Vyacheslav dreamed of naming her after his mother, but bitter memories of the past and his wife’s disagreement forced him to change his decision. After long discussions, they settled on the name Olya.
Years flew by quickly, their children grew up, and soon their son was about to marry a nice girl. Vyacheslav and Liliya gladly approved his choice, as they liked his future bride. And now, as both spouses were over fifty, their thoughts increasingly turned to future grandchildren, about whom they had already begun to dream.
For Vyacheslav, family always remained a sacred priority. Just as important as his restaurant business, which he continued to develop with unwavering success. One morning, arriving at work, Slava decided to conduct a small audit in his restaurant.
To see how the kitchen was working, whether everything was in order in the storerooms. And during the inspection, he stumbled upon an unexpected scene at the service entrance. An elderly homeless-looking woman was sitting next to the new cleaner, Anya, who was feeding her from a plate.
Anya, noticing the appearance of the restaurant owner, instantly fell silent and became confused. The owner asked her in surprise, “What’s going on here?” But beneath his outward calm, a real storm of emotions was hidden. Inside, Slava was seething with anger, of course, worried about the reputation of his establishment.
In his thoughts, he was constantly worried that Anya didn’t care at all about how such a scene could affect the prestige of the restaurant, where, by the way, influential and respected people dined. When Anya tried to justify herself, explaining that she brought food from home because she felt sorry for the old woman, Vyacheslav could no longer contain his emotions. He abruptly interrupted her, pointing out the great risks that the presence of such a woman could pose for the clients of the restaurant. The best restaurants nearby
The reputation of the establishment, which he had built over the years, was his top priority, and just the thought that one thoughtless act could destroy everything enraged him, how dare she. Anya stood silently, looking down and clenching a piece of bread in her hands, which she hadn’t yet managed to pass to the poor old woman. At that moment, the elderly woman tried to stand up for Anya, trying to calm down the enraged boss.
But Vyacheslav was too furious to listen to her, and obvious contempt reflected on his face. Despite Slava’s irritation, the old woman asked again not to scold Anya, explaining that the girl was just trying to act humanely. However, the man, blinded by anger, only cast a malicious glance at her, and then again turned it on Anya.
Unexpectedly, he snatched the bread from her hands and threw it right in the old woman’s face, accompanying the gesture with a scream and demanding that she leave and never show up here again. After that, he sternly warned Anya that next time she would be fired. Anya just quietly nodded, indicating that she understood the threat.
The old woman silently picked up the bread from the ground and carefully shook off the dust, and, looking at the girl with gratitude, said that “any trouble can be survived with bread,” then calmly walked away. These words unexpectedly pierced Slava, causing him to freeze on the threshold of the restaurant. Suddenly he remembered how in his childhood his mother, who had long disappeared from his life, used to say the same words “Any trouble can be survived with bread.”
Turning to the grandmother, Slava asked insistently. Where did she know this expression from? The woman calmly replied that it was just a saying, and when he asked her name, she introduced herself as Lyubov Vasilyevna. Hearing this name and patronymic, Slava immediately felt a shiver run through his body.
It seemed to him that these words were like a return to his childhood when his mother, also named thus, comforted him with a piece of fresh bread, right after he fell off his bike. He had never heard this phrase from anyone else, and suddenly he was seized by anxiety. Could it be that this homeless-looking old woman was his long-lost mother? When the elderly woman turned to leave, Slava, gripped by a vague premonition, abruptly stopped her and invited her to his office.
Anya and the grandmother exchanged glances, and their faces expressed complete incomprehension. Such an unexpected turn in Slava’s behavior simply stunned them both. Just now he seemed the embodiment of cruelty and coldness, and now suddenly he was showing signs of unexpected compassion.
Trying to soften the sharpness of his previous words and actions, the man made another unexpected move. He offered the old woman to go to the restaurant, where he wanted to sincerely apologize and invite her to lunch. The staff of the establishment was astonished by such an unexpected change in their boss’s behavior.
Slava himself at that moment did not fully understand what exactly was driving him. In fact, he was trying to find in this woman features of his long-gone mother, thus trying to comfort his childhood desire to return a lost parent. The words of gratitude spoken by the old woman touched a deep chord in Slava’s soul.
Suddenly he became interested in whether she had a son and other relatives. But the answer was quite sad. Her life, full of simple joys and everyday difficulties, was destroyed in an instant by a terrible tragedy.
The story of her son Slavochka and a happy family life that simply collapsed in an instant, along with the death of her husband Ivan, shook Vyacheslav to the core. He began to look for connections and coincidences with his own fate, possibly even finding unexpected parallels between their lives. Listening to her story, the man began to feel new emotions, and compassion and understanding awakened in his soul
Vyacheslav, absorbed in the grandmother’s story, couldn’t believe what was happening. Each of her words seemed to him an echo of his own history. Because the memories of his parents and even their names completely matched.
He focused on listening to her life story, which sounded increasingly parallel to his own past. “When they buried my Vanechka, a week later my mother-in-law and father-in-law unexpectedly came and suddenly declared that my grandson Slavochka should move in with them. I, of course, categorically refused, but they then threatened that if I did not agree voluntarily, they would take the son by force.
I didn’t believe them and simply threw them out of the house. However, exactly a month later, at the store where I then worked, a serious audit began, and such large financial shortages were discovered that it was hard to believe. The documents all looked impeccable, but I was accused of a major embezzlement,” continued Lyubov Vasilyevna.
“And in the end, I was sentenced to a long term—almost ten years in prison. An absolutely innocent person, I was put in prison. Why did they do this to me? And I served the term from beginning to end.
Already in prison, I learned that I had been deprived of parental rights. My little Slavochka was left without his natural mother. When I was released, I found out that other people were already living in our service apartment, and the in-laws had left.
And exactly where—no one informed me, and my son was taken away. But life went on. After a few years, I remarried a good man, but it was too late to have children again.”
Vyacheslav was stunned to the core. Could this woman really be telling a story that so strongly coincided with his own past, overcoming inner turmoil, he decided to ask her the name of the city and the names of her husband’s parents. And again he encountered an astonishing coincidence.
But how is that possible? Slava’s heart beat faster, as now sitting in front of him was his own mother, alive and real. But why then did his grandparents convince him that she had long died? It turns out they just lied. But how could they? After all, they saw how much their son suffered without his mother.
Apparently, this way they simply got rid of an unwelcome daughter-in-law, ruined her life, and separated her from her son. Slava felt a sharp pain in his chest, again recalling his childhood love for his mother, her tender kisses, and warm words of consolation after falls from his bike. But could all this just be some silly coincidence? Could his grandparents really be so cruel? Love continued her life story, as if it was necessary for her to pour out her pain to someone, just to be listened to.
“After the death of my second husband, I immediately left the city for the village,” continued Lyubov Vasilyevna, “there I lived in my parental home and worked on the farm until retirement. But one day, a fire broke out in my house due to a wiring short. I barely managed to escape, the house burned to the ground.
I stayed with neighbors for a month, and then I was offered to move to the capital. There they were just looking for workers at a sewing factory, even promising to provide a dormitory. I, of course, agreed, since I knew how to sew, and I didn’t care how much they paid.
Slava immediately rushed there. “We really do have one homeless woman,” the nurse in the reception disdainfully grimaced. “Does she have tuberculosis?” asked Slava.
“No, her lungs are fine,” the nurse shook her head. “But she was hit by a car, and she has complex injuries. The doctors, of course, performed surgery, but serious treatment requires expensive medications, and she just doesn’t have them, and without them, she doesn’t have long left.”
Slava insisted that they show him this woman immediately. When he entered the room, he immediately saw her, so familiar and beloved mommy. She was just lying on the bed, her face sunken and pale.
Vyacheslav, remembering his young and beautiful mother, gently touched her hand. “My dear mommy, hello!” he whispered. The nurse, standing nearby, even recoiled from what she heard.
“Could such a decent man have such a mother?” Lyubov Vasilyevna opened her eyes and looked at Slava tenderly. “Who are you?” she whispered with dry lips. “I’m your son!” the man replied with a trembling voice.
“I don’t believe it!” The woman’s forehead broke out in sweat. She tried to sit up, but from the pain, she fell back onto the pillow again. “Could you really be my Slavochka?” “No, it can’t be.
This is just some kind of mistake.” She studied his face attentively, and with each moment, she found more familiar features. She remembered how at their first meeting she thought he was just a kind person who wanted to help her.
“But could he really be her son? This is clearly some silly joke!” Vyacheslav took out a paper with DNA results and read aloud what was written. There were no more doubts. “Did you guess right away?” the woman smiled, still not believing what was happening.
“My son, how long I dreamed of our meeting!” “Not right away, of course,” Slava admitted. “There were just so many amazing coincidences. And it’s your saying about bread.
Remember how I came to you with bruised knees, and you comforted me with hot bread?” “I remember everything, son,” Love cried. “It’s a pity that we met so late. I don’t have much time left.
No, don’t say anything!” Slava immediately shouted. “I found you. And I can’t lose you again.
I will definitely cure you. And you will live long and happily. Hear? I won’t abandon you, mom!” And indeed, Vyacheslav transferred Lyubov Vasilyevna to the best clinic in the city.
He bought her the most expensive and effective medications, and gradually her condition improved. And soon Slava took her from the hospital along with his entire family. The children and wife quickly found a common language with their mother-in-law and grandmother, who turned out to be a very nice woman.
All the household members were simply happy, but especially Slava, because his mom was now again with him. Lyubov Vasilyevna, though in her old age, but finally found true happiness. True maternal happiness.