By Shen Yueming

Rescuer or Rescued

By Shen Yueming

M y friend Luo Jingpu showed his knack for investment at an early age.He became very popular and successful in his late twenties.Butthatmiraculoushalo around his head lost its shine over time. Though fortune had once smiled on him, in the blink of an eye,his over-bloated assets–factories,property,money,etc.–became a ball and chain around his ankle,and turned toxic overnight.Owing to his youth and aggressiveness in hisbusinessdealings,ablitzkrieg counter attack from business rivals inevitably came,leaving him penniless and saddled with huge debt.

One night while hobbling around aimlessly in the moonlight along the bank of a river,Luo’s heart engorged in anguish like the waters of the river below him after a storm.All he could think of was putting an end to the pain by putting an end to his very existence.He climbed onto the guardrail of the river ready to bid adieu to the world when a small voice came into his ears:“Hi,Uncle,it’s not a good time to swim.The water is too cold!”It was a little boy,aged eight or so,running and waving his hands at him.

Luo forced a half-smile through the pangs of his misery.“How could the chill of this water frighten a dying man?”Thesolethoughtswimming through his muddled mind was to dive into the freezing waters below.The boy grasped his coat at the time,urging him to come down.

From the child’s impish face Luo felt such warm sympathy.He asked curiously:“Hi,boy,where do you live?It’s so darkandlate.Why don’tyougo home?”

“I have no home,Uncle.I am an or-phan.I often come here to beg pennies from the swimmers.But it’s cold today, and nobody came to swim.I haven’t eaten anything all day long.It isn’t a good time to swim,Uncle.I am not joking.Please don’t jump.”

The world had seemed so cruel and unmerciful to Luo when he made the decision to end his life.He was confused by the boy’s consideration over other people’s safety while he himself was suffering in hunger and poverty.At that momenthechangedhismind,and crouched down looking the boy squarely in the face,smudged with grime,asking,“Uncle is taking your advice.He won’t swim today.Do you mind if he buys you something to feed your hunger?”

Since then,Luo became the boy’s father.To raise the boy,Luo had to shoulder a tremendous work load,no matter how hard,dirty,and unbearable it might be.By and by,their lot in life changed. Luo never complained about the hardships of life,even when they moved into a forest for a job.

Luo paid off his debt peu a peu,and their life bettered over time.

Later on people said that kind-hearted Luo saved that little boy,but Luo answered to the contrary:“It’s the boy who saved me.Without the boy’s persuasive voice,I might have been living in heaven for all this time.”

(FromOne Escape from Youthpublished by Qing Hua University Publishing House and produced by the Cheng Ping Book Database.Translation:Joseph Ma.Illustration:Kou Mengmeng)