One day, a math teacher asked her seven-year-old student, Laiq, a question. "If I give you one apple and one apple and one apple, how many apples will you have?" Immediately (立刻地), Laiq replied confidently, "Four!" The teacher was disappointed because she was expecting a correct answer, three. "Maybe the child did not listen to me clearly," she thought.

    She repeated, "Laiq, listen carefully. If I give you one apple and one apple and one apple, how many apples will you have?" Laiq had seen the disappointment on his teacher's face. He calculated (计算）with his fingers. And within his heart, he was also searching for the answer that would make the teacher happy. His search for the answer was not for the correct one, but the one that would make his teacher happy. This time hesitatingly (犹豫地) he replied, "Four."

    The disappointment stayed on the teacher's face. She remembered that Laiq liked strawberries. She thought maybe he didn't like apples, so he got the wrong answer. This time with excitement in her eyes she asked, "If I give you one strawberry and one strawberry and one strawberry, how many strawberries will you have?" As he saw the teacher become happy, young Laiq calculated with his fingers again. There was no pressure on him, but a little on the teacher. With a hesitating smile, young Laiq replied, "Three."

    The teacher now had a smile. Her method had succeeded. She wanted to congratulate herself. But one last thing remained. Once again she asked him, "Now if I give you one apple and one apple and one more apple, how many will you have?"

    "Four!" answered Laiq.

    "How Laiq, how?" she asked in an angry voice.

    In a voice that was low and hesitating, young Laiq replied, "Because I already have one apple in my bag."

When someone gives you an answer that is different from what you expect, don't think they are wrong and give them a chance to explain. There shall be an angle that you may not have thought about yet.