去年秋天我换了一个部门，座位靠窗。
Qùnián qiūtiān wǒ huàn le yí gè bùmén, zuòwèi kào chuāng.
Last autumn I moved to a new department, with a seat by the window.
窗台上放着一盆花，叶子黄了一半。
Chuāngtái shàng fàng zhe yì pén huā, yèzi huáng le yíbàn.
On the windowsill sat a pot of plant, half its leaves turned yellow.
土干得起了皮，花盆下面压着一张旧纸条。
Tǔ gān de qǐ le pí, huā pén xiàmiàn yā zhe yì zhāng jiù zhǐ tiáo.
The soil was dry and cracked, and an old note was pressed under the pot.
我问旁边的同事这是谁的花。
Wǒ wèn pángbiān de tóngshì zhè shì shéi de huā.
I asked the colleague next to me whose plant it was.
她说：养它的人今年春天离职了，问了一圈，没有人要。
Tā shuō: yǎng tā de rén jīnnián chūntiān lízhí le, wèn le yì quān, méiyǒu rén yào.
She said: the person who kept it left this spring; he asked around, and nobody wanted it.
我看了它一眼，叶子虽然黄，剩下的都立着。
Wǒ kàn le tā yì yǎn, yèzi suīrán huáng, shèng xià de dōu lì zhe.
I looked at it: though half yellow, the remaining leaves all stood up.
我说：那我来吧。
Wǒ shuō: nà wǒ lái ba.
I said: then I'll take it.
从那天起，我每个星期二和星期五给它浇水。
Cóng nà tiān qǐ, wǒ měi gè xīngqī èr hé xīngqī wǔ gěi tā jiāo shuǐ.
From that day on I watered it every Tuesday and Friday.
水不能多，也不能少，纸条上写着这几个字。
Shuǐ bù néng duō, yě bù néng shǎo, zhǐ tiáo shàng xiě zhe zhè jǐ gè zì.
Not too much water, not too little: those words were written on the note.
两个星期以后，黄叶子没有再变多。
Liǎng gè xīngqī yǐhòu, huáng yèzi méiyǒu zài biàn duō.
Two weeks later the yellow leaves stopped increasing.
一个月以后，中间长出了新叶子。
Yí gè yuè yǐhòu, zhōngjiān cháng chū le xīn yèzi.
A month later, new leaves grew from the middle.
同事路过我的座位，常常停下来看它。
Tóngshì lùguò wǒ de zuòwèi, chángcháng tíng xiàlái kàn tā.
Colleagues passing my seat would often stop to look at it.
有人说：这花又活了？
Yǒu rén shuō: zhè huā yòu huó le?
Someone said: it came back to life?
年底那个项目最难的时候，整个部门都在加班。
Niándǐ nàge xiàngmù zuì nán de shíhou, zhěnggè bùmén dōu zài jiābān.
During the hardest days of the year-end project, the whole department worked late.
会议室的灯亮到十点，大家的杯子越来越多。
Huìyì shì de dēng liàng dào shí diǎn, dàjiā de bēizi yuè lái yuè duō.
The meeting room stayed lit until ten, and everyone's cups multiplied.
只有浇花的那五分钟，我是安静的。
Zhǐyǒu jiāo huā de nà wǔ fēnzhōng, wǒ shì ānjìng de.
Only the five minutes of watering were quiet for me.
有一次经理看见了，站着看了一会儿，说：它最近很好看。
Yǒu yí cì jīnglǐ kànjiàn le, zhàn zhe kàn le yíhuìr, shuō: tā zuìjìn hěn hǎokàn.
Once the manager saw it, stood watching a while, and said: it looks really good lately.
一月的一个早上，我到公司的时候天还没有完全亮。
Yí yuè de yí gè zǎoshang, wǒ dào gōngsī de shíhou tiān hái méiyǒu wánquán liàng.
One January morning I arrived at the office before the sky was fully light.
我一眼就看见花上有个白色的东西。
Wǒ yì yǎn jiù kànjiàn huā shàng yǒu gè báisè de dōngxi.
Right away I saw something white on the plant.
走近了才看出来：它开花了。
Zǒu jìn le cái kàn chūlái: tā kāihuā le.
Only up close did I realize: it had bloomed.
小白花一共六朵，安安静静地开着。
Xiǎo bái huā yígòng liù duǒ, ān ānjìng jìng de kāi zhe.
Six little white flowers, blooming quietly.
我们部门没有一个人知道它原来会开花。
Wǒmen bùmén méiyǒu yí gèrén zhīdào tā yuánlái huì kāihuā.
Not one person in our department had known it could bloom.
那天早上，大家轮流过来看，气氛忽然轻了很多。
Nà tiān zǎoshang, dàjiā lúnliú guòlái kàn, qìfēn hūrán qīng le hěn duō.
That morning people came over one by one, and the mood suddenly lightened.
我想起纸条，把它翻过来，另一边还写着几个字。
Wǒ xiǎng qǐ zhǐ tiáo, bǎ tā fān guòlái, lìng yìbiān hái xiě zhe jǐ gè zì.
I remembered the note, turned it over, and found a few more words on the other side.
上面写着：它每两年开一次，请不要错过。
Shàngmiàn xiě zhe: tā měi liǎng nián kāi yí cì, qǐng búyào cuòguò.
It said: it blooms once every two years, please do not miss it.
我给那位前同事发了一封邮件，里面放了一张照片。
Wǒ gěi nà wèi qián tóngshì fā le yì fēng yóujiàn, lǐmiàn fàng le yì zhāng zhàopiàn.
I sent an email to that former colleague, with a photo in it.
他回得很快：谢谢你们替我看到了。
Tā huí de hěn kuài: xièxie nǐmen tì wǒ kàn dào le.
He replied quickly: thank you all for seeing it for me.
那个星期的项目汇报，我们组做得最好。
Nàge xīngqī de xiàngmù huìbào, wǒmen zǔ zuò de zuìhǎo.
In that week's project review, our team did the best.
经理说：养花和做事是一个道理，都得等它自己的时间。
Jīnglǐ shuō: yǎng huā hé zuò shì shì yí gè dàolǐ, dōu de děng tā zìjǐ de shíjiān.
The manager said: keeping plants and doing work follow the same rule: everything needs its own time.
我不知道是不是这个道理。
Wǒ bù zhīdào shì bú shì zhège dàolǐ.
I do not know whether that is the rule.
我只知道，在一个很累的冬天，六朵小白花按时开了。
Wǒ zhǐ zhīdào, zài yí gè hěn lèi de dōngtiān, liù duǒ xiǎo bái huā ànshí kāi le.
I only know that in a very tiring winter, six little white flowers bloomed right on time.
这就够我们高兴很久了。
Zhè jiù gòu wǒmen gāoxìng hěn jiǔ le.
And that alone was enough to keep us happy for a long time.
HearMandarin