By Zhu Ling

Sometimes It Is the Simple Things in Life that Count the Most

By Zhu Ling

1

One day, I bought some Chinese cabbages in the community market. The owner, a middle-aged woman, should have given me 20 cents in change. But after rummaging through her pockets, she seemed to locate just two dimes.

“Damn it!” she exclaimed, “I don’t have any more change. Just a minute! I’ll borrow 20 cents from another stall.”

I told her it didn’t matter and went about my business.

When I walked into the gate of our tenement building, I ran into her. She said with a big smile, “There you are. Here’s the twenty cents I owe you. My husband had taken my coin purse with him just now.” Just to give me twenty cents in change, she had followed me all the way back from the market.

2

One early morning, I went to the local food court for breakfast.

It was a hot day, and I knew I couldn’t finish a full bowl of noodles, so I told the owner to reduce the amount of noodles, as I did not want to waste food. He did as what I wanted, and charged me 50 cents less.

Looking at my puzzled expression, he smiled and explained, “You told me to reduce the amount. I did, but I couldn’t charge you full price, so I gave you a discount.”

I held the coins in my palm and a peculiar feeling came over me. I could scarcely believe that he had taken that small amount of noodles so seriously.

3

Every time when it rains, the road in front of the tenement gate floods over, and a man put some bricks in the water to make a “bridge.” Moreover, he also tells passers-by the better route and reminds them where the deep water is.

He is neither a staff of the company in charge of the tenement, nor a resident living nearby. He is only a plumber doing odd jobs there.

When the rain stops and stagnant water recedes, he moves the bricks and puts them around a flowerbed on the roadside in an orderly fashion.

Out of burning curiosity, some people asked him why he meddled in other’s business, to which he replied with a smile and a wink, “I’m not sticking my nose in where it doesn’t belong. It’s difficult for people to walk on rainy days, and I just want to help them. It doesn’t take much time or effort.”

Though these are just ordinary folks, nothing special in the eyes of society, they should still be given their due respect, after all, in this cynical and jaded world, sometimes a simple act of kindness or consideration counts the most.

(FromLegal Times. Translation: Li Li)