"If there are no oranges, just have a lemon": Applauding others is also cheering up your own life.

Text: Xiaojing’s Story

American writer Virginia E. Woolf’s “Lemon Series” novels written in blank verse have won many awards, including the American Golden Kite Award, American Library Association Award for Best Book for Young People, and more.

Blank verse is a type of English metrical poetry. Blank verse is different from free verse. Although blank verse does not rhyme, it has a fixed rhythm, with iambic pentameter being the most common.

"If there are no oranges, let's have a lemon" is a work with unique writing style and profound ideas. There are not many words, but it is thought-provoking.

This work tells the story of fourteen-year-old Lafang and seventeen-year-old Qiao Li working together to get out of the haze of life. If we take it a step further, it is the story of Lafang helping Qiao Li turn sour lemons into sweet oranges.

Lafang and Qiao Li are similar in age. Of these two girls, one is a middle school student whose family is too poor to afford college, and the other is a young girl who became the mother of two children at the age of sixteen. The two people who had no intersection at first met because of the recruitment notice posted by Qiao Li on the notice board of Lafang School.

Qiao Li wrote on the notice: We urgently need someone to babysit our children.

Since Lafang was born, she has lived with her parents in an apartment building with 64 households. After Lafang's father passed away in an accident, Lafang's mother relied on her meager salary to support her mother and daughter. The people living in this apartment building are all marginalized people in this city. They were born here, grew up here, got married here, and had children here.

Among the sixty-four households in the building, no one has ever gone to college, and no one has ever thought about going to college.

However, Lafon wants to go to college! Want it very much!

Lafang’s mother said to Lafang on Lafang’s tenth birthday: Lafang, you are going to college. Although, going to college is not easy, and no one in our building has ever been to college. However, the fact that you can go to college will be the most proud thing in my life. It is really the most proud thing in my life.

With her mother’s encouragement, Lafang began to yearn for college life. However, Lafang's mother continued to say to Lafang:

So, the fourteen-year-old Lafang dialed Qiao Li's phone number written on the school bulletin board.

At this time, La Fang could not predict that the fourteenth self would bring huge changes to Qiao Li's life.

Before meeting Chang Qiaoli, Lafang thought that she was the girl struggling on the edge of despair. After seeing Qiao Li, Lafang realized that he was very lucky compared to Qiao Li who was sliding down the hillside. At least, he can still study in school, while Qiao Li can't even spell simple words.

Qiao Li has been traveling at a low speed, but she doesn’t know it.

Lafang’s first impression of Qiao Li’s house was: the apartment was a mess and there was a strange smell.

Qiao Li told La Fang that she had no parents and she needed to earn money to buy milk powder for her children. Lafon's job is to take care of the two children - Jeremy, who is under three years old, and Gilly, who is still in his infancy - during Jolly's working hours.

Lafang wanted to leave. Lafang did need to work to earn money, but everything in front of her made Lafang feel powerless. Lafang wanted to leave because she didn't want to make money with Qiao Li.

However, Qiao Li said to Lafang over and over again: I can't deal with all this alone.

Lafang was confused. She could not imagine that someone would make herself so embarrassed. After Jeremy's father abandoned them, why did Joely let herself get pregnant again, and why was she abandoned by Gilly's father again?

Two men left behind two children, and Qiao Li's life was unimaginable to Lafang.

Lafang seemed to see the shadow of his future in Qiao Li:

Lafang knew that if he wanted to have a future in which he could enter college, he must start earning money immediately. . So Lafang decided to stay.

If this situation continues, Lafang can accumulate some college expenses for himself, and Qiaoli can go to work with peace of mind to support the lives of mother and son.

However, for Lafang and Qiaoli, the real test has not yet begun.

Qiao Li's situation made Lafang more determined to go to college. Lafond said to himself: Weiner Lafond should go to college, have a good job, and not live a life full of despair like what I see here.

During the days when Lafon and Jolly took turns taking care of the children, Jeremy fell in love with Lafon more and more, and Lafon became closer and closer to the two children.

Therefore, when Qiao Li's boss tried to sexually assault Qiao Li, and Qiao Li resisted and was beaten and fired, Lafang chose to help Qiao Li take care of her children for free.

From Lafang's point of view, Qiao Li's life was terrible. Although Lafon doesn't know how much she can help Jolly, she hopes she can see Jolly and her children's lives improve.

So, Lafang suggested that Jolly go back to school. Lafang believes that learning is the most direct way to help Qiao Li have a better life.

Qiao Li heard fear in her eyes when she heard Lafang's suggestion. From Qiao Li's limited knowledge, if she went to school, she would have to receive social assistance. In that case, she would be deemed a mother unqualified to be a parent, Jeremy and Gilly would be taken away by social welfare agencies, and she would lose the qualification to live with her two children.

Lafon didn't understand social assistance, but she finally convinced Qiao Li to take a "steam class."

It was this "Steam Class", also known as the "Self-Esteem Class", that prompted Qiao Li to make up her mind to return to school.

Here, I would like to talk about the "steam class" in detail. The theme of "Steam Lesson" in the book is described as follows:

From this lesson, we can deeply feel the difference between Eastern and Western education.

The author Virginia E. Woolf was born in Portland, Oregon, USA in 1937. Although it is impossible to know the specific time when this book was created, it can be clearly confirmed that the era when this work was created is far away from the present.

Qiao Li finally failed to speak in the "Steam Class". La Fang touched Qiao Li's shoulder with his shoulder, trying to convey a sense of confidence through his clothes and muscles, but Qiao Li could not receive La Fang's signal.

Lafang was a little disappointed. She felt that the "steam class" did not touch Qiao Li.

Saying what you want and what you want to achieve, shouting it out for everyone to hear, is a kind of witness and an invisible contract that does not allow us to regret it and urges us to achieve it. .

How charming is the moment when you shout "I can" to strengthen your faith! Jolly is unattractive because Jolly doesn't say "I can."

La Fang could not hear the voice in Qiao Li's heart. In fact, Qiao Li shouted "I can" with all her strength in her heart.

Qiaoli felt Lafang's enthusiasm in helping her change. Qiaoli wanted to give herself a chance, a chance to advance in the middle or even in the high-end.

After a brief encounter, Lafang and Qiao Li returned to their respective lives. It's hard to tell whether it was La Fang who led Qiao Li to a new life, or whether Qiao Li's situation made La Fang more determined in her choice. To be sure, Jolly's sour lemon finally turned into a sweet orange.

The time when these two teenage girls were on the same path of life was the warmest and happiest time in their lives.

Putting down this book gave me some insights beyond the lives of the two girls.

First of all, it was the touch brought by the steam class.

While reading this chapter, I seem to be able to hear the inner determination of the children in the classroom when they shout "I can".

In the past, step-by-step and rule-based education cultivated children with knowledge, talent, and perhaps self-confidence, but it was slightly insufficient in cultivating children who dared to face and express their courage.

However, the story of Guo Yue, a college student from Wuhan who was infected with COVID-19, self-isolated for 38 days without infecting anyone. It allows us to see the growth of the younger generation and also allows us to feel the gains of diversified education. Whether it is educators or parents who accompany their children as they grow up, everyone is working hard to create a better growth environment for their children.

We don’t have a “steam class”. What we do have is a warmer educational atmosphere than a “steam class”.

Secondly, there is "no one told me" that Qiao Li always repeats.

Jolly's parents do not appear in this story. The only time Lafang asked, Qiao Li's answer was: I have no parents.

The lack of companionship made Qiao Li live in a daze. Qiao Li has no parents, no teachers, and no friends. She didn’t know that children could get chickenpox, let alone that chickenpox was contagious, and of course she didn’t know that children needed to go for regular physical examinations.

This is also the most direct reason for Qiao Li's chaotic life.

Each of us needs to be "told" as we grow up.

"Being told" allows us to know things that we need to know that we have not yet touched; "being told" allows us to know that someone is loving us in his own way; "being told" allows Qiao Li to calm down Determined to save the life of Gilly who accidentally ate the toy.

Fortunately, the appearance of Lafang made up for Qiao Li's lack.

In the end, there was the clear laughter of the two girls.

Lafang and Qiao Li appeared in each other's lives by chance. What they thought was an ordinary encounter brought huge changes to the two of them.

In their stories, there is a very touching point: it turns out that walking forward with someone accompanying you is so sunny; it turns out that you can laugh and laugh while looking up at the stars in the abyss.

Lao She wrote in the article "Master Zongyue": "He is busy, he is poor, but his laughter is so loud." The "him" here refers to Uncle Liu who funded Lao She's education. , that is, Master Zongyue.

Lao She is a child sponsored by Master Zongyue by chance, just as Lafang helped Qiao Li discover her unknown self by chance.

This reminds me of Xu Zhimo's poem -

Lafang and Qiao Li have achieved each other's shining youth. They laughed heartily, and no one in the world could hurt their dazzling beauty.

May each of us be willing to temporarily stop moving forward, applaud and cheer for others. Please believe that applauding others is also cheering for your own life.

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