100 Short Stories That Touch Middle School Students - Alternative Ranking

Author: Teng Gang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-06-01
Features: How to make a mother's hands slender and clean
By Zhang Guoai
That day in Chinese class, I led the students in analyzing an extra-curricular reading passage. The material was a short essay about a mother who, having lost her husband early in life, had to take on both the roles of a father and a mother due to excessive and heavy labor. Her hands were "both rough and wrinkled, and dirty." The question was: Based on the passage, discuss how to make this mother's hands slender and clean. The children thought seriously, flipping through the books, but they couldn’t come up with anything. I then prompted them: "How did the mother's hands become like this? What can we do to make her hands slender and clean?" The children immediately had epiphanies and raised their hands one after another. Some said they would sweep the floor, wash dishes, and do laundry for their mother. Others said they wouldn’t fight or eat snacks. Still others said they would listen to their mother, study hard, and be well-behaved children. I smiled and nodded, indicating that their answers were correct, and their faces showed proud smiles. Just as I was about to move on to the next question, the little boy sitting in the back row hesitantly raised his hand. I had originally planned not to call on anyone else, but considering that the boy, named Mahli, was a new student, I asked him to stand up. He stood up hesitantly, opened his mouth several times without speaking, and the classroom began to fill with low laughter. His face flushed red to his ears. I encouraged him to speak boldly. He opened his mouth again, as if rallying himself. Finally, he said, "Find a capable father for my mother!" After finishing, he looked up, eyes wide, at me, eagerly waiting for my judgment. The classroom burst into laughter, and I couldn’t help but chuckle too. After calming down, I asked the class, "Was Mahli’s answer correct?" The children all said in unison, "No!" I nodded and told Mahli, "Don’t let your mind wander."
I soon forgot about this incident, as it was normal for children to have odd thoughts. However, in the following days, Mahli’s eyes remained swollen, and he often looked as if he hadn’t slept. In class, he was always listless, and even when the teacher turned to the next page, his textbook was still on the previous one—he wasn’t paying attention at all. I warned him several times, but it didn’t help. After a few more days, I decided to have a serious talk with him. I told him bluntly, "If you don’t change your attitude, I’ll have to call your father to school." Unexpectedly, he burst into tears loudly, "Teacher! Don’t!" "Why?" "Teacher, my father isn’t… at home," he sobbed. "If my father isn’t home, just call my mother." "No! Teacher! Please don’t tell me about my mother! My father isn’t… alive anymore." I felt as if I had been drenched with cold water. Facing this child of only ten years old, my mind went blank. "Teacher, my mother’s hands are also rough and wrinkled, and dirty. Ever since I was two years old, my father left, and my mother’s hands had to do both the work of a father and a mother. From a young age, I hoped my mother’s hands could be like those of my classmates’ mothers. So I listened to my grandmother and helped my mother sweep the floor, wash dishes, and do laundry, and I tried to be a well-behaved child." He calmed down slightly, then said, "But my mother’s hands didn’t change at all. Later, my grandmother said that if my mother had a capable father, it would be much better." I hugged him tightly, and my eyes were already filled with tears.
P24-25