This Saturday

I had just finished lunch and was walking on my way to the cafe. Not long after I put on the headphones, two middle-aged people who looked like a couple came up to me and started talking to me. So I quickly took off my headphones and leaned forward to listen.

The other party spoke a strong Henan dialect. If the other party spoke faster or slower, I would not be able to understand him. Fortunately, it was just right and I was barely able to get my point across. Basically, they were working in Guangzhou and their boss ran away to Shenzhen without paying them wages, leaving them without money to eat or take a ride home. So he and I asked for money to eat and pay for the bus.

Out of sympathy, I subconsciously agreed, and then I looked up and looked around to see where I could take them to have a meal. As luck would have it, there happens to be a large commercial district surrounding it. There isn’t even a fast food restaurant, either Chinese or Western. Even if there is a place to eat, it is a “beautiful meal” of at least fifty or sixty per capita. If the management is full, especially for people like them who may be doing physical work, it will probably cost about two hundred yuan less.

But at the same time, I was also in financial straits. Relying on swiping credit cards to live a life, I don’t dare to promise the other party anything more. I looked at my phone and saw that it was almost out of battery and needed to find a place to charge it urgently. So I told them that I don’t have any cash on hand right now and have been relying on credit cards to buy things. But I can pay your fare…

But the uncle was still begging me to give them some food money and bus fare. I really had no choice but to repeat my situation to the other party: “I really don’t have any cash, so I can’t help you…” When the other party saw that they couldn’t get the money, they stopped asking.

When the middle-aged woman behind the uncle heard this, her eyes were full of disappointment and helplessness. It seemed more real and touching than the eyes of any beggar I saw on the roadside. The traces of mud on their bodies are still clear and obvious, which seems to further help them prove the authenticity of each other’s words.

But out of desperation, I continued to move forward. As he walked, he seemed to be looking back at them. There were countless times when I had the urge to run to help them, and there were also countless times when I was helplessly persuaded to return by reality…

To be honest, I’m quite tired today. So I didn’t do much when I arrived at the cafe, and actually couldn’t do much. So I just started sitting there, drinking coffee and relaxing. Later, I just watched the Japanese comic “5 Centimeters per Second”, but I didn’t seem to understand what the other party was talking about either, so I just read it as an advertisement…

It’s easiest to grow when you do what you fear most. So with this idea in mind, I started to boldly strike up a conversation with the girl I wanted. For example, when I was shopping with Eun Sang, I noticed that a clerk in a trendy brand store was very pretty, so I turned around and told Eun Sang that I wanted to ask her for WeChat. He didn’t believe it at first, just like I didn’t believe that I could be so brave now. I shouldn’t say anything about the result, but I actually went up and asked for WeChat. But it wasn’t that awkward. After I expressed my most sincere expression to the other person’s beauty, I saw the other person burst into laughter, so I naturally asked for WeChat.

Although this was just a simple chat, it took me five years to go from low self-esteem to self-confidence…