Let All the “Wonder” Come Rushing Toward Me
Recorded in Chinese
Unexpected connections between friends, a destination beside a place where I once got lost, and a fish tank in a shop window: coincidences and small details that made me stop during a walk.
00:02 I often find myself thinking
00:06 how amazing life can be—
00:07 or how small our social circles can be.
00:11 For example, I often used to notice
00:14 that some people
00:16 in my WeChat circle
00:18 would somehow end up knowing each other.
00:20 And before I met one of them,
00:24 those two friends didn't know each other.
00:27 But then one day, I'd suddenly realize,
00:29 oh, their paths have crossed.
00:32 Coincidences like that make me wonder
00:39 whether
00:40 all of us might
00:42 eventually find our way to one another.
00:47 I don't know
00:48 where that feeling comes from.
00:50 But whenever something like this happens,
00:52 it makes me think,
00:54 wow, that's incredible.
00:58 For example, I went somewhere today.
01:01 As I was walking along,
01:04 I suddenly realized,
01:05 wait, I think I've been here before.
01:08 I searched my memory and realized
01:10 I really had been there last year.
01:13 And the place I visited last year
01:16 was right across from today's destination.
01:21 And even more coincidentally,
01:24 to the left of where I was today
01:28 was the very spot where
01:30 I'd gotten lost last year while trying
01:34 to find the place across the street.
01:36 Back then, I was using a photo to find someone—
01:40 to find where they were—
01:43 rather than having an exact address
01:45 and simply following it
01:47 with navigation.
01:49 So it felt pretty incredible.
01:52 Because last year, before I found
01:54 the place across the street,
01:56 I almost walked into
01:57 the very place I was looking for today.
02:01 But the name didn't match,
02:03 so
02:04 I went across the street instead.
02:09 At the time, though, that name
02:13 wasn't very familiar to me.
02:15 It's only now that I know
02:17 that this is what the place is called.
02:20 This coincidence...
02:22 I don't know
02:25 what kind of coincidence it even was.
02:27 But it still made me feel like,
02:32 wow, how incredible.
02:36 Words like "incredible" and "wonderful"
02:39 have appeared in my life, or my world,
02:42 again and again.
02:45 They come up very, very often.
02:49 After I left that place,
02:53 I started making my way back.
02:57 On the way,
02:58 I walked pretty slowly,
03:00 because the nearby streets...
03:04 how should I put it?
03:06 showed almost no sign of spring.
03:10 Although down south,
03:17 it's probably pretty hot by now.
03:19 Anyway, around Lunar New Year,
03:21 when I came back here from the south,
03:24 I kept adding layers as I headed north.
03:29 As I walked along the streets,
03:32 looking at the bare, desolate trees,
03:36 everything felt quiet and bleak.
03:44 I started looking at the shops on both sides,
03:48 seeing if anything caught my eye.
03:52 As I walked, I noticed,
03:55 wow, there's a window.
03:56 It's so distinctive.
03:58 Before, whenever I noticed a window,
04:01 I'd look inside
04:03 and maybe see some greenery
04:05 or some flowers.
04:08 But this time, I saw a goldfish tank.
04:13 Goldfish were swimming around inside.
04:17 I thought, oh my god,
04:19 the owner of this shop is a genius.
04:22 The design was so interesting.
04:25 It really struck me.
04:28 At first, I glanced at it and kept walking.
04:30 But I couldn't resist.
04:31 I turned back,
04:33 took out my phone,
04:34 and photographed the fish tank.
04:38 Then I even went inside the shop
04:40 and looked around.
04:42 It was filled with handmade accessories.
04:46 It was such an interesting little shop.
04:51 Even more interestingly,
04:53 while I was photographing the window,
04:58 I overheard two people talking nearby.
05:02 Person A told Person B
05:04 that he had been financially supporting his girlfriend
05:10 and had spent over 100,000 yuan in a year.
05:13 Person B, shocked, asked Person A,
05:17 "Doesn't your girlfriend have a job?"
05:21 After hearing just those few lines,
05:24 I went into the shop
05:26 to look at the things inside.
05:29 I don't know
05:30 what came next.
05:31 Once I left the shop,
05:32 I headed straight back.
05:35 I just thought,
05:37 hmm, that was pretty interesting.