Free Mutton Soup

About the story

A bowl of mutton soup that has been free for four years brings a tangled four-year account of favors to light when, on one occasion, “none was saved.” Sanitation worker Zhao Deshun used to willingly help the soup shop clear snow, move supplies, and take out the rubbish, but his daughter Zhao Hongmei insists on claiming 48,000 in “wages.” Only when another, explicitly paid working arrangement comes to light does everyone truly understand: kindness deserves to be cherished, but favors and responsibilities also need boundaries. In the end, a bowl of mutton soup costing twelve yuan settles all the old accounts, allowing kindness to retain both its warmth and a proper sense of limits.