There was once a pair of identical twin brothers, Alex and Andy. They looked exactly the same; from their haircuts to their heights, one could have a hard time to tell them apart.
However, their personalities were complete opposites.
While Alex, the older of the twins was reserved and naive, his younger brother, Andy was very outgoing and talkative
Alex had a difficulty to struck a conversation with strangers, but Andy could easily make new friends with his friendly attitude and he never had problem to express his mind and ideas with his eloquent words.
One day, they both took an admission test to the university
When the results came out, Alex passed the test. Unfortunately, Andy did not as he was short of two points from the pass mark. Disappointed as he could not make it to the university, he locked himself in his bedroom for days. He thought that it was unfair for him to not being able to go to the university when he had talents and was a much better speaker unlike his shy brother, Alex.
Meanwhile, Alex told their parents that he got accepted into the university as he passed the admission test. However, their father decided that it was best for Andy to take up Alex’s place instead. “Let Andy go to the university instead. He’s got potential in academic area,” their father said to Alex.
Being a devoted son like he had always been, Alex agreed with their father’s decision. He then gave the his offer letter to Andy. “This is not a ticket to heaven. Don’t expect too much from it,” Alex said to Andy.
“What do you mean?” Andy replied to his brother.
“This is nothing more than a capitalist’s way to make us spend money,” Alex said.
Hearing Alex’s reply, Andy could only shake his head and laugh at his brother’s words. This is definitely a golden ticket for him to be successful. After all, education is very important for one’s success, right?
Soon, Andy went to the university while Alex stayed at home, taking care of their old parents. He then began to work at a cement factory nearby their house. He was in charge to crush stones which then be used in the cement mix. Surprisingly, he was good at his job.
He even modified the machine that was used to crush the stone
As Alex performed well at his job, his manager decided to move him to a better job position, the production line. From his observation, Alex realised that many of his fellow colleagues fell ill due to the unsafe work environment of the factory.
Many of the workers suffered from respiratory diseases due to the inhalation of silica dust during production. Alex and some of his colleagues teamed up to improve their work environment of which they proposed to the manager to implement strict rules about wearing the right safety tools and uniform when handling the raw materials.
Subsequently, Alex then promoted to a higher position. This time, he was moved to the research department where he began to read a lot about the cement industry. He also went to other factories where he learned new skills and the latest update about the industry.
Soon, with all the skills he learned and the knowledge he got from the reading, he managed to improve the quality of cement that his factory produced
Thanks to his good performance and innovative ideas, he earned a good reputation in the factory and in the construction industry.
He quickly became a prominent figure in the industry
Meanwhile, Andy fell in love with a daughter of a rich family. Instead of studying, he rather spent his time with his girlfriend whom he relied upon to support for his life at the university. However, his girlfriend later left him for another man. Andy was devastated over the break-up. He no longer came to his classes and found himself at the verge of depression. Luckily, he barely passed his final examination and managed to complete his degree.
Even though he had graduated from the university, he had already felt lost and became hopeless with his life. Soon, Andy returned to his hometown to find a job. However, he did not have the strength to meet his parents who would obviously feel disappointed with his results. So, he was determined to find a job before he came back home.
Thanks to the recommendation from a previous company he worked at the city, he managed to secure an interview with a company that was very well-known in construction industry. He was prepared for the interview when suddenly he was told that he had already been accepted to work at the company.
Andy who was surprised with the news immediately accepted the job offer
However, he was later informed that he had to start in the production line where he was in charge to burn stones
Upon finding out that he had to work in the production line, Andy felt that it was unfair for the company to place him in such position as he was after all, a university graduate.
He then asked the secretary to meet the director of the company. To his surprise, the secretary then passed him a piece of paper. “This is from the director,” the secretary said to Andy who then read the paper: “If you want to go to the heaven, then you must be willing to go to the hell first. Nothing worth having comes easy.”
Andy felt furious when he read the director’s short reply. He wanted to confront the director for not letting him to work according to his qualification. However, as soon as he walked into the director’s room, he became speechless.
There in the director’s seat was actually his brother, Alex, smiling at him!
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