The story about goodness begins with an ordinary traffic accident. I was working in property management in a residential community at the time. Upon receiving the news, I rushed to the scene immediately. It was a terrifying sight: Beneath a truck lay a bicycle and its owner, quietly lying in a pool of blood. The driver of the truck was nowhere to be found. According to eyewitnesses, the driver had gotten out of the vehicle, glanced under it, immediately dialed 120 for emergency services, and left the scene in a daze.
Before the ambulance and traffic police arrived, the victim suddenly crawled out from under the vehicle. We then discovered that the “blood” covering him was chili sauce, and his only apparent injury was a fractured left leg. He clearly explained that he was a farmer from the suburbs, riding his bike to the community to sell chili sauce. He had fainted from fright, but his injuries were not severe.
The ambulance and traffic police arrived simultaneously. The doctor immediately examined the injured man and concluded that his left leg was run over, but other injuries were not visibly severe. Of course, a more detailed examination at the hospital was necessary. I breathed a sigh of relief, realizing it was a false alarm. My next task was to help the traffic police locate the driver responsible for the accident.
However, at that moment, shocking news came in: The driver had gone to the fourth-floor balcony of a residential building and jumped. It was an unexpected complication. Rushing from one scene to another, I was once again taken aback. The driver was standing there, wailing, while a retired worker lay on the ground.
The story takes a bizarre turn here. As the driver was climbing over the railing, the retired worker happened to be passing by. In a moment of urgency, he bravely rushed forward and caught the falling body. As a result, the person being rescued was unharmed, but the old worker broke two ribs. The incident became legendary due to the retired worker’s courageous act, gaining so-called “news value.” When a friend interviewed the old worker and asked if he was afraid afterward, he answered: “I couldn’t just watch a life disappear before my eyes. If he jumps again, I’ll catch him again!”
The story concludes that what was initially a simple accident became a complex aftermath due to unexpected reasons. The driver was impoverished, with an elderly mother, a wife, and children to support. His income was the family’s sole source of livelihood. The company allowed him to drive the truck for short-distance transport within the factory to accommodate him. Faced with this sudden disaster, he was in despair, with only one thought: death.
The retired worker was even more admirable. After learning about the driver’s family situation, he refused compensation and paid for his medical expenses. The most concerning was the injured farmer, who could have easily stayed in the hospital for an extended period until the responsible party met his demands.
Such cases are expected. However, the situation unfolded unexpectedly. When the driver visited the hospital to see the injured man, someone asked him: “You didn’t even want to live, so why did you remember to call 120 to save him?” After a moment of hesitation, he was unprepared for the question and replied: “What if he could still be saved?” This simple statement of goodness moved us and the injured man. The next day, the injured man insisted on being discharged, saying: “I’ll recover at home; I can’t extort people!”
Looking back now, if there was any crucial factor in the smooth resolution of the entire incident, it was — goodness. Goodness is the most fundamental quality of human nature and the simplest beauty within it. Only in the soil of goodness can all higher virtues blossom. We cannot expect every ordinary person to possess awe-inspiring virtues, but if everyone harbors goodness in their hearts, the world will undoubtedly be a better place.
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