Shank was from a poor family. He made a living by selling wood which he collected in the forest. One day, when Shank was walking out of the forest, he saw a sick deer that needed water and food. Shank didn’t have any with himself, so he stayed with the deer for a while and then went on his way home. Later, he saw a man who was making a bed. The man didn’t have enough wood.

Shank was so kind that he gave his wood to the man. In return, the man gave Shank some food and water. Shank was very happy. He went back and gave them to the deer.

Last month, Shank fell down from the hill when he was cutting wood. He hurt his leg and he couldn’t move. No one was there to help him. Luckily, the deer he once helped saw him. It took Shank back home.

Remember to help others. You never know when you may need the helping hand.

A warmer winter for “Ice Boy”

A photo showing a boy with icy hair once drew wide attention on social media in 2018. In that photo, a boy’s hair has turned icy white, as well as his eyebrows and eyelashes, and his face is red. The 9-year-old schoolboy, Wang Fuman, was then nicknamed “Ice Boy”. Living with his sister and grandmother, he had to walk nearly 5 kilometers in the snow to attend school. His father worked away from home and his mother had left the family. After the photo was taken and released online by his teacher, the boy’s story touched many people. One web user commented, “Boy, all that you suffer now will light your way in the future!”

Later, as social attention increased, Wang’s life has greatly improved. Having learned about the story of her son, his mother immediately returned to reunite (团聚) with her son. And Wang’s father also received a new job as a construction worker, with much higher pay. The family has moved to a new house, which is also about 10 minute-walk to school.

The local government and charities also offered money to the school for reconstruction. Now, not only can students learn in modern labs, those who live far can also sleep in the newly-built dorm (宿舍楼).

More importantly, beyond Wang and his family, many other ice boys and girls have benefited from China’s poverty alleviation (扶贫) efforts in the past years.

“I’m thankful to all those warmhearted people who’ve helped us. I’ll study hard to pay back their support,” the young boy said, with a smile on his red face.

One evening I went out with my friend Neil for a quiet meal in a restaurant. We left the restaurant at 9:30. It was late so Neil asked me to drive him home. About 15 minutes later, something terrible happened on the road. A car in front of us crashed (碰撞) into a tree and caught on fire.

We stopped our car quickly and ran to the crashed car. When we got there, we saw three people in the car. They were scared and we knew we had to get them out. We opened the doors. It was very hot in the car.

First, we got the driver out. He had a head injury (损伤). Then we went back for the other two people. I had to climb over the front seat to get to them. Surprisingly, they were able to walk away from the car. At the same time, a street cleaner saw what happened and called the police.

A few minutes later, the police arrived. They sent the three people to the hospital. A policeman asked me for my name and address (住址). I just couldn’t remember because I was still in shock (震惊).

The police thanked us for what we had done. But I don’t think we did anything big. It’s a nice feeling to know you’ve helped to save someone’s life.