The Versatile Master Artist

Psychological research shows that modern children often form empathy after the age of twelve.

At the beginning, people are neither good nor evil, just chaotic and ignorant.

Therefore, bullying often occurs at a younger age in school.

Giving someone an insulting nickname, isolating a dark-skinned girl with a dirty skirt, metal braces, and thick-framed glasses is hardly worth mentioning.

The nickname for the little girl then was "Glasses Girl" or "Braces Glasses Girl."

Even the pottery class teacher occasionally called her "Little Black," making a self-professed harmless joke about her slightly sun-darkened skin.

The little girl was stubborn to the core and a bit solitary.

She never cried or complained to her parents when taunted.

Her police officer father was often away, her mother was gone, and she didn’t even know who to confide in.

She only bit her metal braces and glared with her pair of beautiful, large eyes, concealed by big frames, unseen by others, staring fiercely at the faces of those who ridiculed her, isolated her, and made fun of her physical features.

It’s as if at such a young age she had already seen through the indifference and coldness of this world devoid of warmth.

Until one day, a pair of new classmates joined the pottery class.

"Mona, should we team up with this classmate?" the boy asked the small girl beside him, who had a string of small golden rings on her arm and looked exquisitely beautiful.

"Why? Two to three people per group. Just the two of us is fine."

"Let’s play together. I see she’s always at a table alone, and it’s inconvenient to shape things."

"No, no. She looks so strange, with such old-fashioned glasses, and her puffy eyes look like a goldfish, so ugly. She can team up with the teacher."

"Don’t speak like that. I think her braces are quite cute. It’s just pottery; let’s do it with her."

And so they molded pottery together for more than two weeks until the holiday ended.

The boy was a bit precocious, like a little adult, extremely gentle and patient.

Pottery class was the first interest class the little girl ever attended; she was clumsy at everything.

The molded soft clay always came out crooked and messy from the oven, often sparking laughter that wasn’t entirely kind.

The girl named Mona did everything earnestly, and when mocked, her cheeks flushed red, stamping her little leather shoes, swearing she wouldn’t team up with her again.

Yet every time, she was pulled over by the boy.

Sometimes when molding was too terrible, the little girl herself felt embarrassed, her eyes turning red.

But the boy, with the air of a little old man, patted her head.

"Coordination skills improve with practice. Don’t cry, Mona. Didn’t we buy some snacks on the way here at the newsstand?"

The boy handed over two pieces of bubble gum.

He chewed one and peeled the wrapper off another, putting it into the girl’s palm.

"Here, I’ll teach you how to blow bubbles; bubbles will make you not feel sad."

The boy struggled for a long time to blow bubbles, but none came out.

But the young girl slowly began to smile.

Just like in fairy tales, where the little girl selling matches sees that warm glow of fire in winter.

Childhood is the starting point of every person’s life.

As children open their eyes and reflect this world with their eyes. If the world is warm, life is warm. If the world is cold, life is cold.

William II, Napoleon, Cromwell, Emperor Wanli... When historians study the records of these great figures, they can find shadows of their childhoods that permeated throughout their important decisions in life.

Sometimes,

Even burning the whole world to ashes cannot make up for the lack in childhood.

Sometimes,

All it takes is a match, a cheap bubble gum.