She cried so loudly that everyone on the trail paused their movements to look at her. For a moment, the adults gathered around him, like a magnet falling into iron filings. But she sobbed, trying to say something but couldn't.
The parents hurriedly asked her what was wrong, anxiously pulled her over from head to toe, and then asked her to turn around, stroke her hair, lift her coat to look, and ask her to point out what she was uncomfortable with.
She lowered her hands and shook her head desperately, and finally in the interval of sobbing, she spat out a few words intermittently, and the adults pieced together the reason for her sadness: so-and-so child and so-and-so child had just left, and they didn't play with me.
Parents relax: such a small thing. The girl's cry immediately rang out again, and this time, the sensor lights in the corridor of a six-story residential building next to it were all lit up.
The adults laughed at this.
It turned out that there were no fights, no quarrels, no bleeding, no wounds, so - nothing.
It's okay. An old man said, so-and-so child ignores you, so you should ignore him.
It's okay. A passer-by also comforted, so-and-so child ignores you, then you can go find other children to play by yourself, you see so many children in the community.
It's okay. The person who looked like her mother hugged her, gently took her into her arms, okay, okay, cry again and hurt her body, and if she cries again, her eyes will be swollen into a little rabbit.
I saw this girl in a pocket park by the Suzhou Creek. She was sad, but how lucky she was, when she was wronged, she could still have a hug and immediately run over and bury her head in it. It's just that the adults around her really understand, they are expressing their judgment on this matter: it's not worth it. But for a child, how much harm is caused by a rejection, adults may find it difficult to empathize.
People who regard themselves as good friends turn their backs away in the playground; This child forms an alliance with that child, and he is not included in it, left behind, ostracized, and left in place. The adults laughed and said you're not hurt, so you're fine. But for a child, how can it be okay.
The person who looked like the child's mother said, "You, you're in the first grade at the beginning of school, you're a primary school student, don't cry; People are looking at you. Embarrassing, right? I thought, yes, children, life literacy worries begin. When school starts, you will meet more children, you will encounter more troubles, and you will encounter more unsatisfactory things, but this does not mean that this matter is a small matter at the moment. I want to tell you that I know you're hurt.
Maybe one day, you too will choose to play with one child and deliberately ignore the other. Maybe one day, you too will learn to exclude and turn your back on others, or smile when you see others suffering. Who knows? Who really knows themselves or can judge their next move? I remember when I was a kid, my neighbor had a nest of chicks. They are fluffy, how cute, they look completely harmless, they will be consistent when they are in danger, but in the nest, when there is enough food, some chicks will be isolated by other chicks, and some chicks will peck at other chicks. None of them have any neat hair.
If you have observed animals in this way, if you have carefully observed a child on the road, you will know that all the disputes in human society may be in the genes, and there is no reason.
In the evening, by the Suzhou Creek, the child's crying gradually stopped, and the remaining sobs were sobbed. A microscopic war is over, and the remnants are "rebuilding after the disaster". People scattered. My eyes returned to the river.
I saw a night heron standing alone on the river embankment for a long, long time. People walk or run briskly on the trail on this side of the embankment, chat or swipe their mobile phones, use fitness equipment, and make all kinds of noises. But it is unmoved, staring at the waves, with its back to the crowd, as if shielding everything. Until it was dark, I could barely see the dividing line between the water and the shore. In the blur, a black shadow fell. It was another night heron that flew over and landed gently beside the original night heron. They didn't look at each other, and they didn't make a single chirp. But this corner is not lonely.
I looked back and saw the little kid who had stopped crying, coming over and lying next to me, looking at the two night herons.
*: Visual China.
Author: Shen Yilun. From Reader Magazine, Issue 2, 2024.
Those shining days, there are "Readers" to witness with you.