Do you have to be very smart to live a happy life? The character of McDull (麦兜) tells you that this is not true. He is famous for having a birthmark on his right eye. He is not very clever, but he has a heart of gold. He is also happy, with lots of dreams. McDull wanted to visit the Maldives (马尔代夫). But his mother didn't have enough money for a trip there. So she lied to him and took him to a place called Hong Kong. The place has a sign that says, “Go to the Maldives.” It made McDull very happy. He thought he was really excited in the Maldives!

    McDull is just a common pig. He has many dreams, but they never come true. That doesn't stop him trying. McDull lives his life in a simple and happy way. His idea towards life is “Never give up”.

    The cartoon pig character was created in Hong Kong by Alice Mark and Brian Tse. McDull first showed up as a character in the McMug comics. McMug is another cartoon pig. But McDull is more popular with a huge number of fans everywhere!

An old man died and left his son a lot of money. But the son was a foolish young man, and he quickly spent all the money, so that soon he had nothing left. Of course, when that happened, all his friends left him. When he was quite poor and alone, he went to see Mr. Smith, who was a kind, clever old man and often helped people when they had troubles.

    "My money has ran out and my friends have gone," said the young man. "What will happen to me?

"Don't worry, young man," answered Mr Smith. "Everything will soon be all right again. Wait, and you will soon feel much happier. "

    The young man was very glad. "Am I going to get rich again then?" he asked Mr. Smith.

    "No, I didn't mean that," said the old man. "I meant that you would soon get used to being poor and to having no friends. "

Alice has a restaurant next to her home. Its name is Alice's Restaurant. It opens（营业）from 10:00 in the morning to 8:00 in the evening. The restaurant is not big, but it's clean（干净的）

David and Mike are cooks in the restaurant. They cook well. David can make（做）delicious Chinese food like jiaozi and fish. Mike makes great hamburgers and sandwiches. A lot of people come to have lunch in the restaurant. So David and Mike are usually busy from 11:00 a. m. to 2:00 p. m. 

Alice is kind to people in the restaurant. Kids like her very much. And the food is very cheap（便宜的）and nice, so many people like the restaurant. 

An old woman has an old cat. The cat can't run quickly or bite（咬）. The old woman doesn't take the old cat out for a walk or give it good food. The old cat always lies under the chair and doesn't want to move. 

Suddenly the cat sees a mouse（老鼠）in the house. So it jumps and catches the mouse. But it can't kill（杀死）the mouse because its teeth are bad. So the mouse runs away quickly. The old woman sees that and becomes angry. She begins to hit the cat and shouts，"Get out!Get out!"The cat doesn't go away but says to the old woman"Don't hit me. I have worked for you for many years. Now I still work for you. But I'm old and can't kill the mouse like before. Don't be rude（粗鲁的）to the old. Think about how much I did for you when I was young. "

My baby graduated last week. Waiting for the ceremony to begin, I took a photo and posted it on Facebook with words "I'm teary. " However, autocorrect (自动更正) changed my words to "I'm ready. " For a minute I was unhappy. But the next minute I was cheering the handsome man, as he walked straight with a big smile to the headmaster. My heart was filled with pride, and I began to wonder if autocorrect had known something. 

The idea of "empty nest" is often connected with sadness, but the truth is that birds don't have a problem with it. Birds' parents encourage their children to leave the nest as soon as possible, while continuing to provide support. That sounds right to me. The fact that my kid is brave enough to go out on his own means I did my job well. And I should have the rewards. 

So, I started with a hot bath at 6:00 p. m. I enjoyed it for over an hour, and then went out to do some running. Back home then, I cooked salmon -my favourite fish but my boy disliked its smell. Later, in the evening, I didn't have to tell anyone to turn off his computer and get some sleep. But at midnight, I missed my boy a little bit more. 

The next morning, I went for a walk. Was I a terrible mother to live in the house by myself? Then I remembered: my kid flew because I taught him to fly. If I'm happy to be drinking coffee as I write this, it's not about not loving my boy but about finding his independence when he's away. It's about realizing that when your smartphone autocorrects "teary" to "ready", you should take note.