Charles Dickens was born in one of the small towns in England.

    When Dickens was nine years old, his father found a job in London and the family moved there. Later on his father was put in to prison(监狱)for owing(负债). His mother could not supply(供应) enough food to him and his younger brothers and sisters. He had to do something for his family, so he could not go to school.  

    Only until his father was out of prison, Charles could go to school. At that time he was already twelve. But he did not finish school. Two years later he began to work in a factory.

    And at first he was a journalist(记者)and wrote for newspapers. The future writer often went to the library to read books. He read a lot. Then, at the age of twenty-two, Dickens began to write and he wrote a lot of novels and stories all his life.Dickens died over a hundred years ago，but people are still reading his books with great interest.

As the powerful singing voice of 71-year-old Liu Aibang echoes( 回 荡 ) across the classroom, students control shadow puppets (皮影木偶) with thin straight pieces of wood, making them step onto the "stage"—a cloth screen provided with light from behind. Those sitting in front of the stage play music on drums, suona and other instruments. 

This is a Daoqing Shadow Puppetry class at Longdong University. Besides Liu. the other performers of the show are all college students. Starting in the Han Dynasty, Daoqing Shadow Puppetry has been included in the national intangible cultural heritage list(非物质文化遗产名单) since 2006. 

However, with technologies becoming more and more popular, many performers moved on to other jobs. Faced with the choice between protecting this art and making a good living, Liu chose to stay on. 

One day in 2020, Liu got a phone call from Zhao Zhixue, the director of the music school at Longdong University. Zhao told him that the school planned to introduce Daoqing Shadow Puppetry into college classrooms. "We want to develop young students'long-term interest in intangible cultural heritage, "said Zhao. 

Excited by the news, Liu became a part-time teacher at the college. He came to school twice a week, teaching a two-hour class each time. Liu hopes to train more young people. "Just as true love is not a one-man show, the inheritance(传承) of cultural heritage needs efforts from both the old and the young, "Liu said. 

 It's easy to know if the plate I'm washing is my grandfather's — it will have no food left. My younger brother is the opposite — there's always food left over. The feel of warm water and the dish soap on dinner plates always comfort me a lot at the end of a busy day.

 About a year ago, our family dishwasher broke. My dad had just left for a work trip, so I offered to do the dishes by hand to help my busy mum.

 At first, doing the dishes greatly annoyed me. I was in a rush to get them done because there was endless work waiting for me to do. However, slowly, the task of washing off food leftovers soon led to a transformation in me. So even when we did finally buy a new dishwasher, I still kept washing the dishes by hand after dinner.

I always start with the dinner plates. I have learned to turn them over and wash the bottom. Then I move to any bowls that have been used. After the bowls, I turn to the dishes used to cook.

 Standing in the same place every day, washing the dishes by hand has been more calming and meaningful than I could have ever imagined. For about 15 minutes every day, I can slow down and forget everything in the world as my mind, eyes and hands focus on(专注于) a simple task that would always result in success. Now I'm able to get myself out of all my worries and put myself more wholeheartedly into enjoying the simple task.