After that I became more and more outgoing and confident. I am no longer an insecure girl. Instead, I am aggressive now. Maybe I should say thanks to my former maths teacher. I owe the positive change in my personality to her.

The Chinese language has an expression which says, Don’t look at people through coloured glasses. In English, the proverb, Don’t judge a book by its cover, is well circulated. Yet, it is so hard for us to practise the principle in real life.

I don’t know whether I have the power to wake up Gran. I wish she would come out of her coma as soon as possible.

Eyeballs popping out, all around were astonished, Grandad included. I am only a student. Grandad’s buddies eyed him, green with envy.

While eating my meal, I could not help but feel pity for the poor man. Just 2 yuan short, he could not take away the two meals. What had got him in such dire straits?

As a child I was curious. One thing I enjoyed doing to satisfy my curiosity was to rummage through our house for hidden treasures. I was sure that there were secrets my parents kept hidden from me.

I could not imagine why my mother should have done such a stupid thing. She often tells me that it’s much safer to take the overpass and that jaywalking is bad. I hope this experience has taught Mother a valuable lesson. She will remember it forever, I bet.

This experience has helped me to realise that we should not judge someone by their looks. Yeah, it is a cliché, but don’t judge a book merely by its cover.

It was time for class. Our teacher, a country girl, who had just finished high school, came in. When she saw the inflated “balloons”, she blushed and went ballistic.

Even though my cousin gets good grades in most exams, she has no dream and feels bored with the world. How I wish I could do something to help Kathleen out of it!