One Sunday, I decided to tidy my bookshelf up. Suddenly, a white envelope(信封) fell to the floor. Whose letter? I couldn’t remember putting the envelope on my shelf. It must be put here by someone years ago! Then I opened the envelope carefully. Inside it, there was a piece of paper. I read it. It was a letter which was written by my mom.

I love you so much! This is not a letter to be posted. I have written this in the hope that one day you will find it. Yes, I wanted to let you know something that I thought was not suitable(合适的) to express face to face.

Life is too short and uncertain. What I say is not new at all, but why I say it is important. If you are reading this, I am no longer with you. You are alone now. I’m not there to help you or give you any kind of advice. But I’m sure that the steps you take will be sound and wise.

The world around you can be confusing(令人困惑的). But if you look inside yourselves, you can light your path and find out where to go. Remember the saying “You reap(收获) what you sow(播种)”.

The way you act will have an influence on your life. Be careful with every step. Be positive(积极的) as much as possible. All of you are great children. I hope you can understand what I mean. Be kind to others and to yourselves.

Yours,

Mom

I was silent for a long time, holding that letter. I thought about how much I loved and missed my mother.

Once upon a time, a wealthy old man lived alone in a big house. He was growing weaker day by day and was unable to take care of himself, so he decided to hire(雇佣) a nurse to help with housework and take care of him.

One day, the old man interviewed two nurses ---- Anthony and Peter. Anthony happened to be a handsome young man, while Peter looked quite common. The old man asked Anthony to make tea for him. After Anthony left, the old man turned to Peter and said, “Anthony has given me some bad words of you. He said you are rude and dishonest. Is this correct?"

Peter thought for a minute and said, "If Anthony has a bad opinion of me , there must be something wrong with me. I should take some time to change these things.”

The old man was very impressed by Peter’s character. Meanwhile, Anthony returned with a cup of tea for the old man. The old man sent Peter to make breakfast for him. He then turned to Anthony and told him. "Peter spoke very poorly of you while you were gone. What do you think about this? "After hearing this, Anthony became angry and started shouting.

In the end, the old man hired Peter. Although Peter looked quite common, he had impressive inner(内在的) beauty.

I was busy. I wanted to say no, but I saw that their shoes were broken and wet. “Come in and I’ll make you a cup of hot tea.” They came in, saying nothing. Their shoes left snow on the floor.

The silence in the front room surprised me. I looked in.

The girl held the empty cup in her hands, looking at it. The boy asked me in a low voice, “Lady…are you rich?”

Am I rich? Oh, no! I looked at my old things in my room.

The girl put her cup back in its saucer (茶碟) carefully. “Your cups match your saucers.”

They left then, holding their papers against the wind. They hadn’t said thank you. They didn’t need to. They had done more than that. The blue cups and saucers were simple. But they said that they matched. The potatoes and meat before me, a roof over our hands, my husband with a job—these things matched, too.

I moved the chairs back from the fire and cleaned the living room. The prints of their small shoes were still wet on my floor. I let them be. I wanted them there to remind me how rich I was.