1 . An Indiana man ordered a Sausage McMuffin at his local McDonald’s and got much more than he expected.

On January 6, TikTok user Josiah Vargas, aka @ dookiedoeboy, shared a video detailing his trip to a McDonald’s drive-through in Elkhart, Indiana that resulted in him receiving much more than he ordered. In the video, which has attracted over 2.3 million views, Vargas is shocked by what he finds in his to-go bag instead of breakfast: thousands of dollars.

“Why? There’s a couple thousand dollars here,” Vargas says, holding up a baggie full of $20bills. “Like, why would they do this? Why would they give this to me?”

Vargas took to TikTok to share his shocking discovery, knowing that he could easily take the money and leave the McDonald’s workers in quite a bind. But, ultimately, he says he knows what he needs to do.

“Now I have to return it because I’m a good person, I guess,” Vargas says, putting the money back in the bag. “How interesting!”

After he walks into the store, he gives the bag to a worker at the register. The worker realizes he’s returning the cash they had been looking for. Amid all the relieved reactions from staff that can be heard from McDonald’s staff, one employee asks if they could give him a hug — which he accepts.

Back in the car, Vargas reflects on his good deed. “They were just all hugging me and thanking me,” he says. “When I was driving away, they called me back in. They gave me $200as well as free McDonald’s for a month.”

The TikTok ends with Vargas sharing what he believes to be the moral of the story. “Do good, people. Returned $5,000, got $200 and free McDonald’s for a month,” he says. “Good trade value and maybe a viral TikTok.”

4 . The post office is not my favorite place. However, that was the day I went through the door with a huge smile. My story had been accepted for publication. I had read the e-mail three times before I actually believed it.

Grasped in my hand was the form giving permission to print my story. No faxing for me — I decided to send it back through the mail just to be sure it reached its destination. Filled with excitement, I told the clerk about my good news. “Wow, look at you go!” she said. “That will be ten dollars.” I reached for my credit card. “Our system doesn’t work today, so we can only accept cash,” said the clerk. I searched through my purse. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, I carried cash. But now, I rarely did. Then a deep voice behind me said, “I’ll take care of it.” I hadn’t noticed the man behind me. I turned to meet him as he held out a ten-dollar bill.

“Congratulations on your story,” he said. “Just pay it forward.” I thanked him. Then I drove to the seaside restaurant to meet Tina. As we walked back toward our cars, I noticed something on the sidewalk, shining in the sun. I picked up a credit card.

“How are we going to find the person who dropped this?” Tina asked. “First, let’s try to spot someone who seems to be searching anxiously,” I said. A moment later, Tina said excitedly, “I’ll bet that’s her!” A young mother had a baby on her back as she dug through some bags.

I approached the woman. “Are you Jessica Slate?” I asked.

Her eyes grew round. “Yes!”

“I believe this is yours,” I said, handing her the card.

“Thank you! During normal times, I’d give you a hug,” she said. We laughed and bumped elbows instead.

I realized being on both the receiving and the giving end of kind gestures felt equally good. I had experienced an interpretation of paying it forward-first with cash, then with credit.

6 . Xing Yifan and his parents were thrilled to learn that he had been admitted to Beihang University with a score of 645 out of a possible 750 points in this (2021) year’s national college entrance examination, or gaokao. It would take most high school graduates great effort to score that high.

But the challenge for 18-year-old Xing was greater, as he was born with congenital muscular dystrophy (营养不良), a group of disorders characterized by muscle weakness and problems with the eyes and central nervous system.

After the Spring Festival in 2004, the Xing couple took Yifan to Beijing for treatment, and he was finally diagnosed with CMD (先天性肌营养不良亚型) at Peking University First Hospital.

When relatives and friends heard the news,they advised the couple to have another baby, but they were determined to pour all their love and care into their son.

“Yifan is an angel who came to our family,” the father said. “He might have broken wings, but we will never give him up.”

The young man’s health continued to deteriorate (恶化). As a result of his condition，he is unable to grow much muscle, so his skeleton (骨骼) suffers from a lack of support and protection.

“He has never walked independently and can only sit against a support,” said Xing Dacheng.

“And every 30minutes,he has to lie down to rest,even in the classroom.”

The condition has also deformed Xing Yifan’s spine and fingers, making it difficult for him to write. “His teachers and principals from primary school to senior high school never refused him. The opportunity of education gave us lots of help,” his father added.

Hou Suyun, head teacher at Xing Yifan’s primary school,carried him up and down stairs during the six years he spent at the school.

Yang Weihong, head teacher at Xing Yifan’s junior high school, gave him extra care but subjected him to the same strict academic requirements as his classmates. “I tried everything I could to stimulate his desire to study, hoping to give him more confidence,” Yang said. “I also hoped he would discover his own sense of worth.”

Yang’s methods worked. Xing Yifan got the highest score in his school for the senior high school entrance examination in 2018.

7 . I enjoy throwing stuff away. I’d love to go full minimalism (极简主义), but my wife and two teenage kids do not share my dream of a house with almost nothing in it. I have tried. When the kids were little, I taught them my two favorite games – “Do We Need It?” and “Put It in Its Place”– and made them play every few months. Their enthusiasm never matched mine.

If I’m going to be honest, my own tidying skills are not as great as I’d like. My “discarded” pile is never quite the trash mountain I want because I make up excuses for why things are useful. I consider this unhealthy. I want to be better at moving on.

So, this time I found help – the classics for people like me: The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, by Marie Kondo. Kondo’s commitment to her craft is astonishing. Her philosophy is only to keep things you love. Can I go full Kondo? I will try. One central idea is to clean by category. You start by collecting all clothes and gathering them together for consideration. It makes you rethink how you organize. Next, hold each item and ask if it brings you joy. This way you’re choosing what to keep. And that’s how I find myself with all my clothes on my bedroom floor. My wife walks by and gives me a look that says I’m nuts. She’s probably not wrong.

Somewhere near the bottom of this chaos is my special jacket. I move through the pile: pants, shirts, suits and shoes. Then my last category: jackets. I haven’t worn the thing in about 30 years. Somehow, it has survived. Now that I’m striving to follow Kondo – surely, its time has come?

I hold it in my hand. There is a tear just below the collar that widens as I hold it. It’s literally falling apart. Will I ever wear it again? Not a chance. Does it feel good to wear? Does it bring me joy? Actually, yes. At this moment, my daughter walks in. She asks about the jacket. I tell her the story. She thinks I should keep it. It’s cool and unique and full of memories. She is arguing that nostalgia (怀念) is the very reason.

I’m not entirely convinced by my daughter’s arguments. I believe in looking ahead, not backward. Nevertheless, sometimes it’s hard to let go. So I gently place the jacket on the “keep” pile.

8 . On that particular morning, we were in Kansas, midway through a project to photograph the storm that sweeps across the middle of the United States every spring. Nick Moir, our team leader, sat on the edge of the bed, checking apps and online radars in search of a good storm cell (云泡) for us to pursue.

“This is it,” he said, waving his phone at the rest of the crew—photographer Krystle, videographer Armstrong, and me. “Let’s roll out.”

We loaded the car with our equipment and off we went, driving under cloudless blue skies for hundreds of miles. We left that quiet day behind when we reached the outer edge of our targeted storm and entered a dark scene of clouds, distant lightning, and continual rain. As we neared the heart of the cell, we found ourselves braving high winds, very heavy rain, and merciless hail (冰雹). Kryestle, at the wheel, sped up to get in front of the storm, but it was moving too fast. We could barely keep pace with it.

Then we caught sight of a rain-wrapped tornado (龙卷风) half a mile to our right. The horrible conditions made it difficult for us to keep the monster in sight. We lost our cellphone reception. We couldn’t see beyond 20 feet, and the hail was so loud we had to shout to communicate. Our road was on a crossing path with the tornado.

That’s when Nick called it. “We have to quit,” he shouted. Krystle suddenly changed direction, driving the car north onto a country road. For the next hour, we were struck by large hail as we escaped the madness of that dangerous chase.

Disappointed and defeated, we knew it was right to give up. We pulled over and watched until the lightning-filled cloud rolled away, lighting up the dark sky. Nick located another super cell not far from where we were.

9 . Occasionally, misfortune will happen in our life and no one can avoid it. If you choose only to complain and escape from the misfortune, it will constantly follow you no matter where you go.     1    

A girl, called Selina, lost her arms in a traffic accident that caused her father’s death — who was the main source of support for the whole family.     2     For the sake of caring for her, her elder brother became her shadow , never leaving her alone for years. Except for writing with her toes, she was totally unable to do anything in her life. Then one day, her elder brother wanted to live his own normal life, and they had no choice but to separate. So she was almost desperate and didn’t know what to do next.

    3     When he tried to prepare dinner for his parents, he overturned the kerosene light on the stove, resulting in a fire that took his hands away. Though his younger brother that was studying in another city, showed his willingness to take care of him, he was determined to be totally independent. At school, he always studied hard. Most of what he learned was to be independent. Once he wrote the following in his composition: “I am lucky. Though I lost my arms, I still have legs; I am lucky. Though my wings are broken, my heart can still fly. ”

One day, the girl and the boy were both interviewed on a television program. The girl complained to the TV host about her uncertain future at being left on her own, but the boy was full of enthusiasm for his life.     4     The girl wrote: My elder brother’s arms are my arms. However, the boy wrote: Broken wings, flying heart.

    5     It is true that life is unpredictable. Disasters can strike at any time. How you deal with misfortune when faced with it is the true test of your character. If you choose only to complain and escape from the ordeal, it will always follow you wherever you go. But if you decide to face it bravely, the hardship will turn out to be a fortune on which new hopes will arise.

10 . My biggest problem is that I’m too busy. When I was young, I used to have so much time, but these days I get up early and stay in school all day. Then I go right home and eat dinner before I started high school, I used to spend a lot of time playing games with my friends, but I just don’t have the time anymore.In the evening, I used to watch TV or chat with my grandmother, but now I have to study. I love music, and my father used to take me to concerts. These days, I hardly ever have time for concerts. I do my homework and go to bed. I really miss the old days.