晚上值班到九点。
开车到家，已经九点半了。
路上很黑。
那种——灯稀稀落落、前后都看不清人的黑。
开着开着，突然听到三四声——
“砰、砰、砰”。
很短，很急。
我还没反应过来，
娃儿已经说了一句：
“妈妈，好像是枪声！”
我愣了一下。
脑子里快速回放刚刚的声音。
好像……确实是。
但也有另一种可能——
车胎爆了？
那一瞬间，人其实是混乱的。
不是不知道危险，
而是——不知道危险来自哪里。
为了安全起见，我立刻打方向，
拐进旁边的小路。
停下来，
检查了一圈车。
确认不是我们的问题。
我才重新上路。
——
我问他：
“你刚刚害怕吗？”
他没有正面回答。
只轻轻来了一句：
“holy jesus.”
我当场被逗笑。
我说：
“你哪里学来的 holy jesus？
我只会说 oh my god 或者 my goodness！”
他很认真地想了一下：
“I don’t know.”
——
接下来的那一段路，
我是真的有点慌。
我本来就不太适合晚上开车。
50 mph 的路，我只敢开到 35。
我跟他说：
“你先别跟我说话，让我专心开车。”
他也安静了下来。
——
快到家门口的时候，
我忍不住说了一句：
“以后我宁可坐 Uber，也不自己晚上开车了，太危险了。”
他马上接话：
“妈妈，你这么花钱不行啊。”
我说：
“钱只是工具。
就是这种时候用的。
钱可以给我们带来自由。”
他顿了一下，认真纠正我：
“妈妈，你这话不对。
钱不是工具，
钱是非常重要的工具。”
我一边笑，一边点头。
——
车已经开到家门口了。
他又突然问了一句：
“妈妈，为什么钱不能买我们？”
我说：
“因为我们是无价的。”
他想了想，补了一句：
“因为我们太贵了，别人买不起。”
——
今晚很特别。
有他陪我值班五个小时，
其中两个半小时，
是在很响的乐队声里度过的。
有一段黑漆漆的夜路，
和几声分不清来源的“砰”。
还有——
一场关于钱、关于价值的对话。
婷妈的亲子日常 创作于 2026.05.02
原创发布： tingtingma.com
写给孩子，也写给正在成长的大人。
未经授权，请勿转载。
Tingma’s Parenting Diary | 249. Gunshots, a Dark Road, and “Priceless Us”
I was on duty until 9 p.m.
By the time I got home, it was already 9:30.
The road was very dark—
the kind of dark where the streetlights are sparse
and you can barely see anything ahead or behind.
As I was driving, I suddenly heard three or four sharp sounds—
“Bang, bang, bang.”
Short. Sudden.
Before I could even react,
my son said:
“Mom, that sounded like gunshots!”
I froze for a second.
My mind replayed the sound.
It did… sound like it.
But there was another possibility—
a tire blowing out?
In that moment, the mind is actually confused.
It’s not that you don’t recognize danger,
it’s that—you don’t know where the danger is coming from.
To be safe, I immediately turned the wheel
and pulled into a small side road.
I stopped
and checked the car.
After confirming nothing was wrong with us,
I got back on the road.
—
I asked him:
“Were you scared just now?”
He didn’t answer directly.
He just said quietly:
“Holy Jesus.”
I couldn’t help but laugh.
I said:
“Where did you learn ‘Holy Jesus’?
I only say ‘Oh my God’ or ‘My goodness’!”
He thought about it very seriously for a moment:
“I don’t know.”
—
That stretch of the drive after that,
I was honestly a bit nervous.
I’m not very good at driving at night to begin with.
On a 50 mph road, I was only going about 35.
I told him:
“Don’t talk to me for a bit. Let me focus on driving.”
He became quiet.
—
As we were getting close to home,
I couldn’t help but say:
“From now on, I’d rather take an Uber than drive at night. It’s too dangerous.”
He immediately responded:
“Mom, you can’t spend money like that.”
I said:
“Money is just a tool.
This is exactly when you use it.
Money can give us freedom.”
He paused, then corrected me very seriously:
“Mom, that’s not quite right.
Money isn’t just a tool—
it’s a very important tool.”
I smiled and nodded.
—
We were already at the front of the house.
He suddenly asked:
“Mom, why can’t money buy us?”
I said:
“Because we are priceless.”
He thought for a moment, then added:
“Because we’re too expensive. No one can afford us.”
—
Tonight felt special.
He stayed with me during my five-hour shift,
two and a half of which were spent
in the loud sounds of a band performance.
There was a pitch-dark road,
a few “bangs” we couldn’t quite identify,
and—
a conversation about money,
and about value.
Tingma’s Parenting Diary
Written on May 02, 2026
Originally published at: tingtingma.com
Written for my child, and for the adults who are still growing.
Unauthorized reproduction is prohibited.
Originally written in Chinese by the author.
This English version was translated with the assistance of ChatGPT.