"What are you doing, Mom?" the seven-year-old boy approached his mother, stood beside her, and squatted while watching what his mother was doing.
The woman turned around for a moment with both hands still busy planting plant seeds. She smiled sweetly.
"Planting these tomato seeds," she said, and glancing back at her son, "if they grow healthy, we'll have extra food, sweetheart."
"But, our land is very dry."
The woman smiled again, she took off her dirty gloves, then used her hands to gently stroke her son's head.
"Every seed that is planted always dies of drought."
"There's nothing wrong with trying, Yu," said the mother and kissed her son's head. "The most important thing in this world is not to lose hope."
"What kind of soil do you use?" Little Yu frowned. "It stinks."
Then the father came by pushing a cart filled with mixed soil for them to use as a medium for planting plant seeds in their yard.