An old woman heard that her young neighbor had lost her earrings and went to offer comfort.
The young lady said lightheartedly, "It doesn't matter that the earrings are lost. As long as my ears exist, there is nothing to regret."
The puzzled old woman asked, "But aren't your earrings made of jade? They are so costly! Don't you regret losing such a valuable thing?"
To this, the lady replied, "Ears are valuable not because they are adorned with earrings, but because they have the ability to hear. To the ears themselves, it adds or decreases nothing, whether earrings exist or not."