Have you watched the movie YOLO (《热辣滚烫》) directed by Jia Ling this winter vacation? It is one of the most popular movies during the Spring Festival of the Long year, 2024 and helped bring Jia’s total box office (总票房) to over 8.8 billion yuan.

Jia Ling is a famous Chinese actress and filmmaker. She is known for her comedic performances on TV and for her successful movie Hi, Mom (box office: RMB 5.4 billion, 2021). In her new movie YOLO, she plays the lead role Leying, a woman in her thirties who still lives with her parents until one day, she meets a boxing coach (拳击教练), who just changes her life.

After over a year out of people’s eyes, fans are excited to see Jia Ling back and expect to see her hard work pay off on the big screen. Jia looks like a quite different person in YOLO because of a weight loss of 50kg. This has sparked a lot of interest on social media. In a recent Weibo post, Jia shared that she had been working hard on the movie for a year. “Actually the movie has nothing to do with weight loss or even boxing but is about learning to love yourself.” said Jia in her post.

Slimming down from 100kg to 50kg can’t be made overnight. Jia Ling has shown people through her actions that if you can’t stand the pain of self-discipline (自律), you will have to accept the mediocrity (接受平庸) of yourself. And that’s why she named the movie with the popular word YOLO, which means you only live once, to encourage people to challenge (挑战) themselves.

Do you like chocolate? Maybe most people do. A box of it can be a great gift. Buy one for a friend and give it as a surprise. See how happy that person gets.

Say you just got a box of chocolate. Which piece do you pick first? A man studied people’s choices. He says they tell something about the person. Do you choose a round piece? You are a person who likes to party. Do you choose an oval (椭圆形的) one? You are a person who likes to make things. Picking a square chocolate shows something else. The person is honest and true. You can believe in him or her.

What kind of chocolate do you pick? Maybe you like milk chocolate. This shows you have warm feelings about the past. Dark chocolate means something else. A person who chooses it looks toward the future. What about white chocolate? Would you choose it? If so, you may find it hard to decide things. Some people like chocolate with nuts (果仁). These are people who like to help others.

Do you believe these ideas? Can candy tell all these things? It doesn’t really matter. There is one sure thing about eaters of chocolate. They eat it just because they like it.

A group of frogs (青蛙) were traveling through the woods, and unluckily, two of them fell into a deep hole. When the other frogs saw how deep the hole was, they told the two frogs that they could never get out of it. But the two frogs didn’t believe it.     12    

The other frogs kept telling them to stop and wait for their death. Finally, one of the two frogs gave up. Soon he died. However，the other frog continued jumping as hard as he could. Once again, the other frogs shouted at him, “Stop! You can’t make it! Poor thing, just wait to die!”     13    

When he got out, the other frogs said, “Didn’t you hear us?” The frog explained to them that he was a bit deaf.     14    

The story teaches us a lesson. There is power (力量) of life and death in the tongue (舌头). For someone who feels bad, an encouraging (鼓励性的) word can cheer him up and help him overcome difficulties. However, a destructive (毁灭性的)   word can make the person give up and die.     15    . Speak positively to people you meet. It is great to take the time to encourage others.