Samuel Osmond is a 19-year-old law student from Cornwall, England. He never studied the piano. However, he can play very difficult musical pieces by musicians such as Chopin and Beethoven just a few minutes after he hears them. He learns a piece of music by listening to it in parts. Then he thinks about the notes(音符) in his head. Two years ago, he played his first piece Moonlight Sonata（奏鸣曲）by Beethoven. He surprised everyone around him.

Amazed that he remembered this long and difficult piece of music and played it perfectly, his teachers say Samuel is unbelievable. They say his ability is very rare, but Samuel doesn’t even realize that what he can do is special. Samuel wanted to become a lawyer as it was the wish of his parents, but music teachers told him he should study music instead. Now, he studies law and music.

Samuel can’t understand why everyone is so surprised. “I grew up with music. My mother played the piano and my father played the guitar. About two years ago, I suddenly decided to start playing the piano, without being able to read music and without having any lessons. It comes easily to me ---I hear the notes and can bear them in mind---each and every note,”says Samuel.

Recently, Samuel performed a piece during a special event at his college. The piece had more than a thousand notes. The audience was impressed by his amazing performance. He is now learning a piece that is so difficult that many professional(专业的) pianists can’t play it. Samuel says confidently, “It’s all about super memory---I guess I have that gift.”

However, Samuel’s ability to remember things doesn’t stop with music. His family says that even when he was a young boy, Samuel heard someone read a story, and then he could retell the story word for word.

Samuel is still only a teenager. He doesn’t know what he wants to do in the future. For now, he is just happy to play beautiful music and continue his studies.

Born in Shiqian county in Guizhou province, 34-year-old Sun Xiaojun used to be the naughtiest student in class. This changed after he broke an ankle and was diagnosed with osteomyelitis (骨髓炎) at the age of 9. His right leg later had to be amputated. His family spent all of their money for the operation. The young man then made the decision to study hard.

In 2006, Sun was admitted to the Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan, Hubei province, majoring in material forming and control engineering. In 2009, he won the opportunity to continue his studies at Japan’s Tohoku University. “I started to wear a prosthesis (假肢) two years after I began studying in Japan. I had never worn one before, so it took quite a long time to get used to it.” he said.

The experience wasn’t very comfortable. He would sometimes fall over when he tried to walk fast, which made him feel awkward. In 2013, he came up with the idea of creating a smarter prosthetic that used robotics. In 2018, he founded BionicM in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, to create inventions to help those with a disability. Sun won the Red Dot Best of the Best award in 2020 because of his robotic prosthetic knee.

“I myself use a prosthetic limb, and I’m also a researcher. There are about 4 million people in China with amputated lower limbs,” he added. “The cost of an ordinary prosthesis is around 60,000 to 100,000 yuan, unaffordable for most.” Sun said most prosthetics are produced in Europe. “I didn’t start my company for the money, but to make a product that is useful to society. Amputees have a basic need to walk,” he said. According to Sun, the robotic knee his company produces is priced at around 300,000 yuan per pair, while similar products sold elsewhere average around 800,000 yuan. Admitting that this is not ideal, he said that his robotic knees are still in small-scale production. He hopes that by raising more money, he’ll be able to expand production and make his devices more affordable.

The whole morning we just checked our own things. We were looking for items (物品) to give away. We thought of blankets, food and clothing. Our aim was not to find things that we no longer wanted, but things that we use every day and that would be useful to others.

We made up boxes with the things and added some small toys. Inside the boxes a simple letter was placed, reading:

“Please take these items and know that your life is important. Times are difficult but they will pass. We share what we have, believing it will matter. Use the blanket to stay warm. Be safe and know that the human spirit can overcome anything. Don’t hold your head down. Someday please do the same when you can. How you do it and when, your heart will tell you.

This kind act was not because the phone rang or for any reason. It was simply because it was the right time to do. We have often seen homeless people at the park where we left the belongings. The city would say that it isn’t a problem but I see the lives walking to and from it.

I noticed that my wife had put her favorite green coat into one of the boxes. I asked if she was sure about it and she simply replied that it had a hood (风帽). She liked the coat but knew the hood could shelter (遮挡) someone from the rain.

We don’t know where these gifts of compassion (同情) will go. We never go back and see what happens. It’s unimportant. The right things will find the right people and that is all that counts. On the way my wife started to cry. When I asked why, she said because some things felt so right.