The boy closed his laptop. "In my profession, we only look at what can be measured." He laughed: "Life has many things that don't lie still for people to measure". A gust of wind passed, the leaves rustled. A moment later, he asked: "Do you see that many children are now like this leaf?". He nodded: "Yes. People even praise them for being mature." He gently turned the coffee cup in his hand. "I feel embarrassed every time I hear it again." "Why??" "Because no child likes to abandon their childhood in the middle of the road." He said very softly. "Some children are only in their teens and already take care of meals and younger siblings. Outsiders see them as good. But who knows, they are only doing what they are forced to do.
The boy bowed to look at the leaves that were still greener than yellow. "I never thought so." He smiled: "Everyone is used to looking at the results". He said: "In my company, people evaluate by performance". He nodded. "Life sometimes doesn't score like that. Some people walk very slowly because there is a whole family on their shoulders.
The sound of the coffee machine echoed from the counter. A group of guests had just entered, making the garden more bustling. The boy picked up the leaf again. "Perhaps I used to look at a strong person and think they were lucky." The old man smiled. "Maybe they had no other choice.
The old man stood up, settled the score, and then put on a faded cloth hat. After walking a few steps, he turned back to look at the canopy, where the space of the leaf that had just fallen was almost unrecognizable. He smiled softly: "Up there, surely no one recognizes missing a leaf." Then he slowly walked out the gate. The young man remained sitting still. On the laptop screen, the numbers kept jumping. He suddenly understood that data can tell many things about a person, but rarely tell what they have silently gone through.
