对待犯下错误的人,惩罚并非唯一的解决之道。一个微笑也有让年轻人改过自新的神奇力量。

—by dewolfe

i will never forget the smile and the look of a young man’s face on the train.

one day i took the train home. there was an empty seat facing a young man. the man looked dirty and you could easily notice his drug addiction1 from his appearance. the train was extremely crowded but no one wanted to sit near him.

i walked to him and sat directly opposite him. i looked him in the eye and smiled. i would never forget the look on his face. it was a special look of shock, shame and amazement. he was obviously shocked that someone would sit opposite him. then a look of shame replaced the shock. he realized that his drug addiction was so obvious that i could easily see it from his appearance. then he tried to clean up himself secretly and quietly. he straightened2 his posture3 and arranged his hair. after the clean-up, he said nothing nor tried to get closer. he just stared out of the window. sometimes he looked at me with an embarrassing smile.

a moment later he arrived at his stop. right before going out the door, he put on a big and sincere smile. “have a good day,”he said. the smile was unforgettable. all i did was smile and what i got was amazing.

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notes:

1. addiction n. 瘾

2. straighten v. 挺直,端正

3. posture n. 姿势