Ji Xiaolan tells stories about cause and effect #15 – Must Return the Favor 紀曉嵐講因果故事 受恩必報

(English subtitles) Ji Xiaolan (紀曉嵐1724-1805) was an influential philosopher, politician, and writer in the Qing Dynasty of China.
Subtitles:
My late father had a stern temperament. He seldom interacts with those who are not familiar. However, one day a ragged man came to our house. My father respectfully invited him to sit in the hall, and chatted with him over tea.
After a while, my father called my brothers and me into the hall, greeted him, and introduced him to us.
1:00
This gentleman is the fourth-generation grandson of Mr. Song, Manzhu. Our Ji and Song families have lost contact for a long time, and we are able to meet again today.
It was at the end of the Ming Dynasty, when the war was raging, and your great grandfather was only eleven years old. During those chaotic years, he was able to survive thanks to Mr. Manzhu's adoption and education. Later, my late father kept this descendant of Song Manzhu at home and tried to find a way for him to make a living. After that, my father often used this incident to teach my brothers and me. If someone has done us a favor, we should do our best to repay them,
2:00
even if we put aside the cause and effect. And in fact, cause and effect are absolutely accurate.
In the past, there was a man who was rescued by someone else. Later, this man became wealthy. He watched his benefactor's descendants decline and become scattered, but he himself was as indifferent as a passerby.
Soon, the rich man contracted a serious disease. One day, he was holding a cup to take medicine. In a trance, he saw someone handing him two letters in unsealed envelopes. He drew out the letter and saw that it was a plea for help that he had written to his benefactor in his time of distress. He was terrified and remorseful. At that moment, he threw the medicine cup to the ground with a long sigh,
3:00
"I died too late." He died that night.