Boss Fires Poor Gardener, Humiliating Him—On His Last Day, He Finds a Buried Box in the Backyard

After the spoiled heir of the estate he’s tended for decades cruelly fired Arthur, the humiliated gardener visited one special garden one last time. As he reminisced, Arthur noticed something strange, leading him to make a life-changing discovery.

I was on my knees in the east garden, hands deep in the cool soil, when Margaret from the kitchen staff rushed over, her face flushed with worry.

A woman hurrying through a garden | Source: Midjourney

“Arthur, have you heard? Mr. Stuart is coming home today. He’s taking over everything.”

I nodded slowly, carefully placing another bulb into the ground. “Yes, I heard.”

I’d been dreading this day since old Mr. Jared passed. For years, I’d tended these grounds and watched the seasons change from behind my wheelbarrow, pruning shears in hand.

A wheelbarrow filled with pruned foliage and garden tools | Source: Pexels

This estate knew my footprints better than any place on earth. And now Stuart was coming home to claim his inheritance.

“What will happen to us?” Margaret asked, her voice small against the vastness of the estate.

“We do our jobs,” I said simply. “That’s all we can do.”

A man transplanting a young plant | Source: Pexels

What I didn’t say was how my heart ached when I thought about Jared. He wasn’t just my employer — he was my friend.

We’d spent countless hours working side by side in the small garden behind the main house. There, among the climbing roses and stubborn weeds, we’d shared stories, silence, and laughter.

“Grandpa, I finished my homework. Can I help with the planting?”

A teen boy smiling at someone | Source: Midjourney

Eli, my 14-year-old grandson, stood at the garden’s edge.

Since the accident two years ago that took my daughter and her husband, Eli had been my reason for waking up each morning. He was polite, studious, and hungry for books in a way that amazed me.

“Sure, come on over. We’re putting in the spring bulbs.”

Plastic crates filled with bulbs and plants | Source: Pexels

We worked in comfortable silence until the sound of tires on gravel broke through the morning calm. A sleek car pulled up to the main house and out stepped Stuart.

“Is that him?” Eli whispered.

I nodded, watching as Stuart surveyed the property. It had been many years since I’d last seen him, but he had the same air of arrogance and entitlement as when he was a rude boy who pulled up the irises to spite me.

A haughty man standing near a luxury car | Source: Midjourney

“Remember what I told you,” I said quietly. “Be respectful, keep your distance, and—”

“Never let anyone make me feel small,” Eli finished. “I remember, Grandpa.”

The first few weeks with Stuart in charge were worse than I’d imagined.

The staff walked on eggshells as he inspected corners for dust and fired people for minor infractions.

A tense cleaner arranging a pair of slippers near a bed | Source: Pexels

Where Jared had been kind and thoughtful, his son was impatient and cruel.

“Arthur, isn’t it?” Stuart asked one afternoon, as though we’d never met before. “The gardener my father was so fond of.”

“Yes, sir,” I replied, stopping my work to face him.

“These hedges look uneven. And those roses are half dead,” he declared. “My father may have tolerated mediocrity, but I expect excellence.”

A man examining a hedge | Source: Midjourney

I bit my tongue. “I’ll see to it right away, sir.”

“See that you do.”

As he walked away, I took a deep breath and returned to my pruning. I tried to forget Stuart’s criticism and his pretense at not knowing me, but I was concerned. I couldn’t afford to lose this job.

A man pruning a plant | Source: Pexels

The weeks turned into months, and with each passing day, Stuart’s parties grew louder, and his friends grew more reckless.

They’d roar through the gardens in expensive cars, laughing as they knocked over planters and scattered gravel.

The once peaceful estate became a playground for the rich and careless to party.

People partying | Source: Pexels

One morning in late summer, I was preparing to compost the beds when I heard angry footsteps approaching. Stuart stormed toward me, his face flushed with rage.

“You! Old man!”

My heart sank. Margaret had warned me to steer clear of Stuart that morning. Apparently, his latest gold-digging girlfriend had left him to go skiing in Switzerland, and Stuart was‌ on a rampage.

A man staring at someone with wide eyes | Source: Midjourney

I straightened up slowly, my knees creaking in protest. “Good morning, Mr. Stuart.”

“Don’t ‘good morning’ me. Did you see what happened to my car? Someone scratched the paint. Was it your grandson? That quiet, sneaky kid?”

“Eli was at school yesterday, sir. He’s been there all week for the summer program.”

“Well, someone did it. And since you’re supposed to be watching this place—”

“I’m the gardener, sir. Not security.”

A man working in a garden | Source: Midjourney

I instantly regretted my words, but it was too late. Stuart’s face contorted with anger.

“You know what? I’ve had enough of your attitude. You think because my father liked you, you’re untouchable? You call this work?” He kicked at a pile of weeds I’d pulled. “My dog could rake better than you! You’re nothing but a leftover from my father’s pity. Consider this your last day. I want you off my property by sunset.”

A shouting man | Source: Midjourney

The words hit hard, but I kept my expression neutral. As he stomped away, I felt a strange calm wash over me. Maybe it was for the best.

I removed my uniform overalls and walked to the garden Jared and I had tended together. I hadn’t touched this spot since Jared died because the memories were too painful.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Jared,” I said as I kneeled by the garden. “The least I can do for you before I go is clear away the weeds.”

A man in a garden staring sadly at the plants | Source: Midjourney

As I was working, I noticed a patch of ground that had been disturbed.

It wasn’t recent, but I knew this garden better than the back of my hand and someone had been digging here and left half the bulbs to wither and die on the surface.

I dug into the earth with my hands. Soon, I felt a hard surface beneath my fingers. I cleared away the dirt and soon uncovered a small wooden chest, sealed with a simple latch.

A chest in a hole | Source: Midjourney

My hands trembled as I opened it.

Inside, neatly arranged, were bundles of cash, small gold bars, and a folded note. I recognized Jared’s handwriting immediately.

“This is for you, friend. I know you need this! I love you. Your friend, Jared.”

Tears fell onto the paper as I clutched it to my chest.

A sad man staring down at something | Source: Midjourney

Even in death, Jared had found a way to look after us. The cruel irony wasn’t lost on me — being fired had led me to this discovery, this last gift from a true friend.

I left the estate without another word to Stuart.

The next day, I went to the bank and opened a safe deposit box. I transferred everything from Jared’s box into it and placed it in Eli’s name. Not for now, but for his future.

Safety deposit boxes | Source: Pexels

I found work maintaining the grounds at the local high school. The pay wasn’t much, but it was honest work, and I could be close to Eli during the day.

Two years passed faster than I expected.

Eli thrived in school — he was top of his class and his teachers were talking about scholarships and potential. He grew taller and stronger but kept his gentle nature and curious mind.

A cheerful teenage boy | Source: Midjourney

“Grandpa, I got accepted into the summer science program,” he announced one evening, waving the acceptance letter.

“That’s wonderful news,” I said, genuinely proud. “Your parents would be so proud of you.”

“Do you think Mr. Jared would be proud too?”

The question caught me off guard. “Yes, I think he would be very proud.”

AN earnest teenage boy | Source: Midjourney

While we built our new life, news of Stuart’s downfall reached us through Margaret, who still worked at the estate.

His recklessness had finally caught up with him. He lost everything — the estate, the cars, and whatever illusion of control he’d once had.

“They say he’s moving out next week,” Margaret told me when we met for coffee. “The bank’s selling the place.”

The interior of a cozy coffee shop | Source: Pexels

I nodded, feeling no satisfaction in his misfortune. “That’s a shame.”

“A shame? After how he treated you? Arthur, you’re too kind for your own good.”

Perhaps I was. But bitterness was a luxury I couldn’t afford, not with Eli watching and learning from every reaction, every word.

One evening, as Eli and I walked toward the park, he asked me a question that had been on his mind.

A thoughtful teen boy on a city street | Source: Midjourney

“Grandpa, are you ever going to tell me what was in that box you brought from the estate?”

I looked at him — no longer a boy, but not quite a man — and saw in him the future Jared had helped secure.

“When you’re ready,” I said with a small smile. “When the time is right.”

“And when will that be?”

A man and his grandson entering a city park | Source: Midjourney

“When you’ve built a foundation strong enough that it won’t change who you are.” I squeezed his shoulder gently. “Some gifts aren’t meant to be opened right away.”

As we continued our walk, I thought about Jared, about the garden we’d tended together, and about the seeds we plant that grow long after we’re gone. Some in soil, some in souls. Both lasting far beyond what we can see.

Can You Solve This Tricky Viral Math Problem

We all love a good brain teaser, especially when it involves math—whether we admit it or not. A tricky math problem recently went viral, leaving the internet divided and proving once again that even simple-looking equations can be deceptive.

My Math Struggles & A Challenge

Here’s a quick personal anecdote: I recently started preparing for the GRE and realized that I hadn’t taken a formal math class in nearly nine years. Confidence? Gone. My quantitative reasoning skills? Rusty at best. So, I decided to brush up by taking online high school math courses, starting from the absolute basics.

When I came across this viral math puzzle that was stumping the internet, I thought, “This is my moment! Let’s see if I still have my 9th-grade math chops!” Spoiler: I did not.

The Viral Math Puzzle Taking the Internet by Storm

The problem originally surfaced in Japan, where researchers found that only 60% of people in their 20s managed to solve it correctly. It quickly spread online, turning into yet another viral challenge because, apparently, we love testing our brains with tricky equations (or we just enjoy arguing over the answers).

At first glance, the problem looks simple. But the devil is in the details. My gut told me there was some sort of trick involved—it seemed too easy. However, instead of embarrassing myself by attempting it publicly, I turned to the internet for guidance. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that someone, somewhere, has already tackled your problem and made an instructional video about it. So, I spent my morning watching people do math on YouTube. Exciting stuff.

The Math Problem:

6 ÷ 2(1 + 2) = ?

Go ahead, solve it. I’ll wait.

Video : Viral problem from Japan

Common Wrong Answers

If you got 1 or 9, you’re not alone. Many people arrived at these answers because of a little acronym called PEMDAS (Parentheses, Exponents, Multiplication, Division, Addition, Subtraction).

You may remember PEMDAS from school—or perhaps the mnemonic “Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally.” The rule dictates that you must solve problems in this specific order:

Parentheses
Exponents
Multiplication & Division (from left to right)
Addition & Subtraction (from left to right)

So, following PEMDAS, some people calculated it as:

Solve inside the parentheses: (1 + 2) = 3
Rewrite the problem: 6 ÷ 2(3)
Some then treated 2(3) as a single term and multiplied first: 6 ÷ 6 = 1

However, others applied division before multiplication:

6 ÷ 2 = 3
Then, 3 × 3 = 9

Both groups were confident in their logic, but only one approach was correct.

The Correct Answer

The correct answer is 9. Here’s why:

Step 1: Solve the Parentheses First

(1 + 2) = 3

Now the equation is rewritten as:
6 ÷ 2(3)

Step 2: Follow the Order of Operations

According to PEMDAS, division and multiplication are performed from left to right (since they share the same level of priority in the hierarchy).

6 ÷ 2 = 3
3 × 3 = 9

Wait… Isn’t the Answer 1?

Some people argue that implicit multiplication (like 2(3)) takes precedence over division. However, modern mathematical notation treats multiplication and division equally. Since they appear side by side in the equation, we solve left to right.

If the equation had been written as:
6 ÷ (2 × 3)

Then, you would multiply first and get:
6 ÷ 6 = 1

But because the given equation lacks parentheses around 2(3), the correct answer remains 9.

Why People Get It Wrong

The confusion stems from different ways of interpreting notation and how we were taught order of operations. In some older textbooks, implicit multiplication (like 2(3)) was given higher priority than division, leading to the alternative answer of 1. However, under modern mathematical conventions, division and multiplication hold equal weight and should be solved left to right.

Video : 13 Riddles That Are Trickier Than They Seem

Math Rules Are Not Always Universal

Believe it or not, different countries and academic institutions teach math slightly differently. Some older math textbooks might suggest treating multiplication next to parentheses as having higher priority, while others follow the standard left-to-right rule. This is why debates like this never really die down—people were simply taught different methods!

How to Avoid Future Math Confusion

Always follow the standard order of operations – PEMDAS (or BODMAS, if you learned it that way).
If in doubt, add brackets – Parentheses make everything clearer and help prevent confusion.
Be consistent – If you’re solving problems with others, use the same approach so that everyone gets the same answer.
Check multiple sources – Sometimes, even textbooks disagree. Looking at different explanations can help clarify tricky concepts.

Final Thoughts

This viral math problem is a perfect example of how simple-looking equations can spark endless debate. The way you approach it depends on how you learned math, but if you apply PEMDAS correctly, the answer is 9—at least according to current conventions.

So, did you get it right, or are you questioning everything you thought you knew about math? Either way, at least we can all agree that math is a lot trickier than it looks!