Shengliver’s Note: The teen writer, Letian, made a big discovery of society on a taxi ride.

I do not know since when traffic on Jiangsu Road has become unbearably heavy on Thursday and Friday nights. Waiting for the bus to come is a pain, so these days I prefer to take a taxi home.

Fortunately, tonight, Thursday, I hailed a taxi and succeeded in stopping it. I hopped in and told the driver my destination. Off we went right away. Unluckily jams were still here and there along the way, so I decided to kill the time by striking up a conversation with the driver, who is a woman of my mother’s age. Thanks to her talkative nature, we clicked right away.

Through our candid chat, I learned she has been diligent as a cabbie over the years to support her family. Despite the hard work, she earns at most a modest 4,000 RMB Yuan a month, which is barely enough to make ends meet. Her health has suffered consequently from long sedentary hours behind the wheel, ending in chronic backache and hypertension. What is worse, she has an unmotivated son in a vocational school, who shows zero interest in his lessons. Oh my God! How unlucky this woman is! I tried to come up with some suggestions to give her a lift. Hearing my words, she smiled, which in turn cheered me up.

When we were nearing our block of flats, I opened my wallet to get the fare, only to find I had exhausted all the cash earlier at the school. A bit panicky, I started to fumble in my schoolbag. Should I not pay her, she would be sad and her work wasted. Still no coins or banknotes turned up in the rucksack.

In the end, I had no choice but to face the music. I told the driver the truth, wishing she could forgive me for such stupidity. To my wonder, she was not annoyed. Instead, she responded in an amused tone, “Nothing too much, lad. You are such a cute boy. The ride is free.”

Deeply moved, I insisted that she wait for a minute, because my home is just around the corner. I would rush and fetch the pay. “Even if you did, boy,” she refused, however, going nonchalantly, “I would not wait.” What could I have done? I had to give in and bask in the windfall generosity.

After I got out of her taxi, I stood on the kerb, waving the cabbie a long goodbye.