They Were Even
Child's Mom looked at the peaches Chenchen was carrying.
Child's Dad had originally planned to carry them.
Ten peaches weren't exactly heavy, but they weren't light, either.
But Chenchen insisted on carrying them himself.
He said they were his apology to the old man.
Child's Dad let him have his way.
He only told Chenchen, "Whenever you feel like you can't carry them anymore, give the bag to me."
When Chenchen finally got home, he flopped straight down onto the sofa.
His hand dangled over the edge.
He was exhausted.
They were so heavy.
He looked at his hand.
His palm was marked with red lines.
"I told you not to be so stubborn."
Child's Mom sat down beside him.
"You could've let your dad carry them."
"Yeah."
Child's Dad smiled. "But..."
He gave Chenchen a thumbs-up.
"Impressive."
"You did what you said you'd do."
"You really carried the peaches all the way home by yourself."
"Hehe."
Chenchen grinned.
On Monday, Chenchen put six peaches in his schoolbag before heading to school.
He, his dad, and his mom had each eaten one of their peaches.
There were six peaches left.
They were for the old man.
Before leaving, Chenchen checked his schoolbag again.
Yep.
His homework was in there.
And so were the peaches.
"I'm off."
Chenchen left home.
Chenchen had never looked forward to having bad luck as much as he did today.
He looked left and right.
He hoped to spot the old man.
No luck.
Chenchen walked into school, a little disappointed.
But then he remembered all the unlucky things that had happened to him at school, and hope stirred in his heart again.
Still nothing.
Chenchen left school, disappointed.
It started to