On the side of the Strait of Malacca, Indonesia, on a small island called "Pari Island", Kruas, a primary school teacher, walked into the classroom.

Under the podium, dark-skinned children of different ages sat sparsely and looked at him with blank eyes.

This is the only school on the island, and there are not many children in the school, and there are even several grades to be taught together, like a school in a remote village.

Cruas is one of only two teachers here.

"Your other teacher has something to do today......" Cruas stood on the stage and had just said a word when he saw a boy stand up with a little excitement and apprehension on his face.

Cruas wondered, "Badaka, what's the matter with you?"

"Teacher, my dad asked me to tell you that I won't be allowed to go to school tomorrow, and tomorrow I will go to sea with my family. ”

Kruas was stunned for a moment, then sighed deeply.

The so-called going to sea is probably going to be a pirate.

This Badaka, who is only 11 years old this year, and the Indonesian is originally short, no more than half a foot taller than a knife, is this going to be a pirate?

Looking at Badaka's somewhat hopeful expression, Cruas didn't know what to say.

Then, many of the children below, unable to hold back, began to turn their heads and ears.

"I'm so envious, I want to be a pirate too!"

"After Ryuma went out last time, he brought back a lot of money......

"Wei Tubo also has a watch, so beautiful!"

"Can Badaka grab a daughter-in-law?"

"When can I become a pirate......

Cruas listened to the children's discussion and didn't know what to say.

Here, the heroes in the children's minds are not policemen, not teachers, but pirates.

In this sea, pirates have been rampant for not a year or two, or even decades or hundreds of years.

Since ancient times, this sea has been a place of pirates.

Being a pirate is an ancestral craft, and in the minds of many people, it is almost like fishing, and they don't even think about whether what they are doing is right or wrong, let alone these children.

Most of them don't go to school at all, and this school is actually more used by parents as a place to watch their children. When they went to sea to run their ancestral business, they left their children here.

And the children don't care at all, some of them go to school on and off for several years, and they are still in the second grade.

When their parents felt that the child was about the same size and age, they dragged the child away and went to work as a pirate.

Here, Cruas has been teaching for seven years, and there is only one child who can graduate and be admitted to the secondary school on the big island next door.

Sometimes, it was really hard for Kruas to connect the people around him with pirates.

For example, Badaka's father, Cruas saw him come to pick up Badaka more than once, greeting him with a simple smile, and the family looked like a father and son.

But it was the same person, dragging the kidnapped crew members, like dragging cattle, laughing cruelly, and locked them in the dungeon.

And then what happened to the man? He didn't know.

The next day, he saw Badaka's father again, still with that simple smile, like any uncle next door.

Here, you never know if you're out fishing, selling local produce to passing boats, or becoming pirates.

Or, a bit of both.

The child of a pirate, when he grows up, is still a pirate, he doesn't know how to break such a circle.

He once hoped that education would lead these children to another path, but now he is almost desperate.

After all, there are so many people here, they don't have hope, and they don't know what hope is.

They don't know anything but this life, they don't understand anything.

But that's not a reason for them to hurt or even kill people.

At the very least, Cruas wants to change some people, if only the kids.

Kruas sighed deeply as he looked at the yearning expressions of the children below as they discussed pirates.

Then, he turned on the projector donated by an educational organization, turned around and said, "Since your other teacher is not here today, let's have a music lesson first." ”

"Wow!" Below, the children's eyes widened and they looked over.

Compared to the cultural class, the music class is much more interesting, and many children enjoy it.

The projector slowly lit up, and then the picture appeared, and the music sounded.

The words "Picking Up Stars" appeared on the somewhat whitish projection.

Below, a translation into Indonesian also appeared.

Following the music, Kruas taught the children to sing in Indonesian.

After school, Badaka's father appeared at the gate of the school again, and after receiving Badaka, he found that Badaka's mood was not high.

"What's wrong? Badaka? Is there someone in the class bullying you?"

Badaka shook his head vigorously, looked up and asked his father, "Dad, are you a bad person?"

Badaka's father was stunned, he looked at Badaka, not knowing what to say.

Suddenly, someone shouted something and rushed out.

Badaka's father was also stunned, and hurriedly ran in the direction of the port.

In the distance, I saw a small boat in front of me approaching, and many people were carrying a bloodied man back.

"It's Brother Ryuma!"

Seeing the bloodstained man, Badaka's face turned pale with fright, "What's wrong with Brother Liuma?"

The man was actually just a teenager, although his face was dark, he was not yet twenty years old, and at this time his abdomen and blood had turned black, and he had less qi in and more qi out.

"What's going on?" Badaka's father hurriedly rushed to help, and then glanced left and right: "What about Vetupo? Why did you come back so many?"

"We just wanted to steal something, and who would have thought that security guards were hired on board...... As he fled, he was shot and fell into the sea......"

Badaka's father was stunned for a while, sighed and said, "Now these days are getting more and more difficult......

"Now the ships are coming and going, the security level is much higher! Many small boats have hired security ...... It's all to blame for Gu Xiaobai! I heard that if you catch him, you can have 10 million US dollars! I don't know who is so lucky......" As Ryuma took his last breath with difficulty, another man said in an envious tone.

Badaka's father touched Liuma and found that he had no pulse at all, then shook his head and said, "You can send him home and help find a place to bury him." ”

"Yes, uncle. The man answered, walked a few steps with Liuma on his shoulder, and suddenly turned around and said, "Uncle, let's go catch Gu Xiaobai too!"

Seeing that Badaka's father frowned, several people hurriedly ran away.

Badaka's father watched a few people walk away, and then said to Badaka: "Badaka, do you think Dad is a bad person? Do you think your grandfather, great-grandfather, uncle, and grandfather are bad people? Do you think Brother Liuma, who always brings you good food, is a bad person? Do you think all the uncles and uncles in the village are bad people?"

Badaka looked at his father blankly, completely unsure of what to answer.

"We're not bad people, they're so rich, we just want a little bit of goods, why don't they allow it! They have so many things, why don't they give them to us!"

"We are not bad people, those who killed Liuma and Wei Tubo are bad people! That person named Gu Xiaobai is a bad person!"

"They're the real bad guys! They don't want us to have a good time!"

"But......" Badaka didn't know what to say.

For the first time in his life, he began to question the ideas that his father had instilled in him.

Aren't they angry at those who have been robbed? What if they come and arrest us and kill us?

As it said in the MV, what if one day, Dad is also lying in a pool of blood......

What if one day, those who have been hurt by their father, they bring a lot of people to kill their father?

"Let's go, I'll get on the boat with me tomorrow, my family Badaka has finally grown up. Badaka's father was relieved.

"But what if those who have been robbed, what if they get angry and bring people to arrest you and kill you?"

"No, it won't. Badaka's father said.

Why not?

Badaka couldn't figure it out.

"But our teacher said......" said Badaka weakly......

"What did your teacher say?" Badaka's father immediately became alarmed.

Badaka didn't say anything, he shook his head, took his father's hand, and went home with him.

But on the way back, for some reason, there was a melody that kept ringing in his ears.

Then, he couldn't help but hum softly:

"The stars in the sky fell

Dolls on the ground pick up

Pick it up and give it to that grandma

Steamed nest wo wo lo

A nest for Abba

One for the doll

Abba goes out to sea to fish

Doll on the shore waiting for ......"

Listening to his son sing a nursery rhyme, Badaka's father smiled kindly again and reached out to touch Badaka's head.

This kid, where did he learn the nursery rhymes, it's quite interesting, it's very good.

Two nests to give themselves one, this child has grown up.

That night, Badaka's father went out again when he got home, and came back very late.

The next morning, Badaka said to his father, "I ...... I don't want to go to sea, I want to go to school. ”

Badaka's father frowned: "Aren't you about to graduate from elementary school?"

"I want to go to the middle school on the island next door, and then go to university like Mr. Cruas......"

Badaka's brother was already laughing: "Badaka, you coward, you must be scared!"

If it had been in the old days, Badaka would have argued, but today he did not speak.

Badaka's father frowned and said, "Okay, you go to class." ”

Badaka was overjoyed, turned and ran.

When I came to the school, another teacher walked in: "I'm here to teach you today, and we're going to learn the next text today...... Let me take a look...... What does this word come about......

Badaka didn't like the teacher, who was an old man in the village who couldn't read all the words in the book himself.

He liked Mr. Cruas.

"Where's Mr. Kruas?" asked Badaka.

The old man's eyes shrank for a moment, and before he could speak, several students next to him chirped: "Last night, there was a fire in Mr. Cruas's house, and he was burned to death. ”

"Yes, I saw it, it burned so badly!"

"My dad went out to put out the fire last night. ”

"So did my dad. ”

Badaka ran out in a frenzy, and he saw that the house of Cruas had been burned to the ground.

Mr. Cruas's body was charred and black, as if it had been tied to something.

At that moment, Badaka seemed to understand something.

Badaka returned home crying.

His father looked at him and smiled, "Why don't you go to school?

Badaka shook his head and said nothing, just wiped his tears.

"Coward!" his brother laughed, and Badaka's father grabbed his eldest son and said, "Then let's go first, maybe tomorrow he will figure it out." What are we going to do on our island if we don't get on the boat? ”

"Coward, coward!" Badaka's brother grimaced beside him.

Badaka just cried.

"What are you crying about!" Badaka's father slapped him in the face, but after all, he couldn't bear to hit it hard, raised it high, fell gently, fell on Badaka's head, and rubbed it: "Wait for Dad to come back, bring you something delicious." ”

Then, they were gone.

In the evening, they did not return.

Badaka stood on the dock and waited for a long, long time until it was completely dark.

The next day, they didn't come back either.

They may never come back.

On the third day, Badaka picked up a scimitar and stepped onto a ship.

What can he do?

His grandfather was a pirate.

His father was a pirate.

He had no choice but to be a pirate.

Because...... The teacher is dead, and there is no one left to let him go to school.

Badaka didn't know that at this moment, there was a video on the Internet that went viral.

The person who posted this video is an elementary school teacher.

He posted a comment under "Picking Up the Stars" by music app JOOZ: "I work as a teacher on a small island called 'Pari Island' and have been teaching here for 7 years. Our island is very small, the transportation is inconvenient, and the external communication is almost entirely dependent on satellites, there are more than 200 families on the island, more than 1,000 people, and the children on the island want to be pirates not as policemen when they grow up. With us, pirates are the highest-paid, most respected, and most decent profession, which worries me a lot. I'm going to translate this song into Indonesian and teach them to sing it, even if it can change a person. ”

After a while, he commented below: "I posted the video of the children singing on the Internet, I hope everyone will come and see it, we are missing a lot of things, it would be nice if you could donate some classroom stationery, my contact information is ......"

Many people clicked on his link.

I saw that in a dilapidated classroom, more than a dozen children, large and small, were singing seriously.

"Stand on tiptoe and look out

With a small hope

Close your eyes

It is the incense of the earth

A pair of hands

How many times

in order to pull up heaven

A pair of feet

How many steps

in order to step out of the distance

How much sweat to wipe

in order to flow into the ocean

How many lights to light up

in order to burn into the sun

Thin shoulders

How can you carry the luxury of the building

Tired spine

Strive to support the ...... of heaven and earth"

The children sang earnestly, and even in Indonesian, it was still so good.

Then, it comes to the chorus.

"The stars in the sky fell

Dolls on the ground pick up

Pick it up and give it to that grandma

Steamed nest wo wo lo

A nest for Abba

A nest for the doll

Abba goes out to sea to fish

Doll on the shore waiting for ......"

When the children's children's voices came up, goosebumps rose for everyone who listened to the song.

"It's so beautiful!"

"Mei is crying!"

"Listen to it! in an infinite loop!"

In particular, one of the short and stout boys sang very seriously, very loudly, and his eyes were particularly bright.

Many people have commented that this kid is very star-like, and he will not be able to do it in the future.

In the caption of the video, the teacher wrote: "I'm sorry I didn't sing the middle paragraph, I removed the middle passage, 'No direction, no hope, no end, no hometown' This paragraph is too dark for the children." ”

"As long as I'm still on the island for a day, I'm going to do my best to give them a bright future. ”

"It's nice to be able to save someone. ”

Many people wanted to donate some textbooks and stationery to the teacher, and they called the teacher's number.

However, no one answered.

No one answered anymore.

(Yesterday's chapter has been completely rewritten, and the plot direction has also changed, because it is almost 2 million words written, and many times it is difficult to stick to the original intention of writing, and everything is based on music and story...... This chapter is another interpretation and version of "Picking Up Stars".,It's actually more than 8K written today.,So be cheeky and ask for a monthly pass...... ）