Q: It seems to be an article in The Reader. I wonder what its title is.

Medium-sized students (from Reader, No.8, 2008)

My daughter's classmates call her "No.23". There are always fifty people in her class, and her daughter ranks twenty-three in every exam. Over time, with this nickname, she became a veritable ordinary student.

We thought the nickname was harsh, but our daughter accepted it gladly. My husband said worriedly that when it comes to company activities or old classmates' parties, others are full of praise for his "Little Superman", but he can only play deep. Other people's children not only have outstanding achievements, but also have many specialties. Only our "twenty-three girls" have nothing to show off.

Therefore, as soon as he saw the talented children in the entertainment program, his eyes sparkled with envy. Later, I saw a report that a nine-year-old child went to college. He was very hurt and asked his daughter, "Son, why aren't you a child prodigy?" The daughter said, "Because you are not a priest." My husband was speechless, and I couldn't help laughing.

On the Mid-Autumn Festival, relatives and friends got together and filled a spacious box. Everyone's topic has gradually turned to the children of each family. Let the children talk about what they will do in the future.

Pianists, stars, politicians and children are not afraid of stage fright. Even the four-and-a-half-year-old girl said that she would be the host of CCTV in the future, which won a burst of admiration.

12-year-old daughter is busy picking crabs and shrimps for her little brother and sister, serving soup and wiping her mouth. It suddenly occurred to people that she was the only one who didn't say anything. Urged by everyone, she answered seriously: "When I grow up, my first wish is to be a kindergarten teacher and lead the children to sing, dance and play games."

Everyone politely agreed, and then asked her the second choice. She said generously, "I want to be a mother, put on an apron with a tinkling cat on it, cook dinner in the kitchen, then tell a story to the child and lead him to the balcony to see the stars."

Friends and relatives were startled and looked at each other, not knowing what to say. Husband's expression is extremely embarrassing. When he got home, he sighed and said, do you really want your daughter to be a kindergarten teacher in the future? Do we really look at her mediocre students?

In fact, we have also used a lot of brains. In order to improve her academic performance, she invited tutors, enrolled in remedial classes and bought various materials. Children are also quite sensible, don't read comic books, quit paper-cutting classes, give up sleeping in on weekends, like a tired bird. She ran from class to class, making stacks of papers and workbooks.

But after all, she is a child, and her body can't bear it first, and she has a bad cold. Infusion, in the hospital bed, she still insisted on doing her homework, which eventually led to pneumonia. After the illness, the child's face lost a circle. But the result of the final exam is still the twenty-three that makes us laugh and cry.

Later, I also tried to increase nutrition, material incentives and other means. After several tossing, my daughter's little face became more and more pale. And as soon as she said that she would take the exam, she began to suffer from anorexia, insomnia and sweating. Then, she got 23 people who stunned us.

My husband and I quietly gave up the vigorous activity of encouraging seedlings. Restored her normal schedule, gave her the right to draw cartoons, and allowed her to continue to subscribe to books and newspapers such as Children's Humor and settle down at home for a long time. We love our daughter dearly, but we are puzzled by her achievements.

On weekends, a group of colleagues went for an outing together. Everyone cooked their own best dishes and took their husbands and children to have a picnic. Laughing and laughing all the way, this child sings and that child performs sketches. My daughter has no housekeeping skills, but she has been clapping happily. From time to time, she ran to the back to look after the food. Put the tilted lunch box back in place, tighten the loose bottle cap and wipe off the spilled vegetable juice. Busy as a careful little housekeeper.

There was an accident at the picnic. Two little boys, an olympian and an English expert, are holding a glutinous rice cake on the plate at the same time, and neither of them will let go, let alone share it equally. A dazzling array of delicious food is constantly on display, and they don't even look at it. The adults laughed and sighed, even persuaded and coaxed, all useless.

Finally, it was my daughter who easily broke the deadlock by flipping a coin.

There was a traffic jam on the way back, and some children began to be anxious. One after another, my daughter's jokes amused the whole car. Her hands were not idle, and she cut out many small animals from colorful cartons full of food, which attracted the admiration of this group of children. When getting off the bus, everyone got their own paper-cut of the zodiac. Hearing the children's thanks again and again, the husband couldn't help showing a proud smile.

After the mid-term exam, I received a phone call from my daughter's class teacher. First of all, I learned that my daughter's grades are still average. However, he said, there is a strange thing he wants to tell me. He has been teaching for 30 years, which is the first time he has encountered such a thing. There is an additional question on the test paper: write down a classmate in your favorite class and give the reason. Many reasons are: being helpful, keeping promises, not angry, easy to get along with ... What I write most is optimism and humor. The class teacher also said that many students suggested that she be the monitor. He lamented: although your daughter's grades are average, she is really excellent.

I jokingly said to my daughter, You are going to be a hero. The daughter who is knitting a scarf cocked her head and thought about it. She told me seriously that the teacher once said a proverb: when a hero passes by, someone always sits on the side of the road and applauds.

She said softly, mom, I don't want to be a hero. I want to be the one who sits on the roadside and applauds. I suddenly a shock, wait for a while looked at her. She knitted a sweater quietly, and the pale pink thread wound around the bamboo needle, as if an inch by inch of time, in her hands, spit out a small bud. My heart suddenly warmed up.

At that moment, I was suddenly moved by my daughter who didn't want to be a hero. How many people in this world aspire to be heroes when they are young, but eventually they become ordinary people in the world of fireworks. If they are healthy, if they are happy, if they don't go against their wishes, why don't they be kind ordinary people?