For long, a little boy was wondering why his next-desk-pal could rank 1st in the class whenever he wanted to, whereas he himself failed to: he only ranked 21st.
At home, he asked his Mom, “Mom, am I more stupid than others? I feel I am as obedient and as careful as him, but how come I always lag behind? "Hearing the words, Mom was aware that her son began to gain amour-propre, which was now being undermined by the ranking system. Staring at him, she went wordless, not knowing how to explain.
In another test, the son ranked 17th, while his pal remained 1st. Back home, he raised the same question. Mom really wanted to inform her son that intelligence differs, which means that students ranking 1st are supposed to be cleverer than normal ones. However, was this disillusioning answer the one that her son was constantly curious about? Thank goodness she did not open her mouth.
How to answer her son’s question? There were times she felt an impulse to equivocate, “You are too lazy. You are not as industrious as others…” but she stopped when envisioning her son suffering from the pains of unsatisfied grades and rankings. She thought it cruel to inflict any additional burden on his son and was trying to find out a perfect answer.
Time elapsing swiftly, the son finished primary school. Despite studying harder and better, he was still unable to keep up with his pal. To show her pride of him, Mom decided to take him to the sea. During the trip, she managed to give out an answer.
Now, the son no longer worries about his rankings, and there are no longer boring guys who would inquire his rankings in primary school, because, with the 1st ranking, he is accepted by Tsinghua University. Back home in winter vacation, he was invited to address the students and parents in his high school. In the speech, he mentioned an valuable experience in his childhood, “…When my mother and I was lying on the beach, she pointed to the front and said, ‘Do you see the seabirds scrambling for food over there? When the waves come near, little birds can rise quickly while “clumsy” sea-gulls would take more time to complete the process. However, have you noticed birds that finally fly across the endless ocean are none other than “clumsy” sea-gulls?’” The moving speech provoked many mothers present into tears, including his mother.