Last Saturday I felt on top of the world as if it were a festival. We did not need to sit a 2.5-hour science test, a weekly fixture on Saturday evening on the schedule. Each test taken then, which is physics, chemistry and biology combined, could kill a large quantity of my brain cells.

To relieve my hunger, I made a beeline for a fast-food takeaway, called Qingshimingyue, on Jiangsu Road, where mouth-watering baozi is served. After I got a meal, I started to backtrack to the campus, munching the delicacy on the way. Somewhere at the bank I saw a country woman in rags selling veggies. Squatting on the pavement, she was trying to peddle her produce to every passer-by.

“Fresh potatoes! Pretty tomatoes!” she yelled in a hoarse voice.

Despite her effort to appeal to everyone, nobody bothered to stop or look her way. It was so sultry that beads of perspiration were rolling down her face.

Her futile effort tore at my heartstrings, but I was clueless as to how to help the woman out. A high school boarder, I had no need whatsoever for any of her fresh potatoes or pretty tomatoes. I managed to drag my feet across, casting a sympathetic glance at her. Having gone some distance off, I could not help but look back. The very sight of the vendor evoked memories of my mother, who toils for the family, day in day out, back in my home village.

An ordinary but noble lady, Mother loves my sister and me in heart, always prioritising our needs over hers. Mother saves all she can to provide us with education and a decent life. The veggie seller’s silhouette very much resembled my mother’s.

In the end, I halted and turned around. I retraced my steps to the veggie pedlar. Picking up a couple of her potatoes, I got them weighed on her scales.