Walking in Ataabu Park (阿罩霧公園), Jean suggested we cross the road to visit Bentang Park (本堂公園), where our grandkids used to play frequently when they were small. So, we took Little Shine (or formally, John) there for a revisit.
To our surprise, Ms. Shufen Zheng (鄭淑芬老師), whom we hadn't seen for a long time, called me by my name and title, "Liang laoshi," from a distance. I saw her sitting alone under the rain shelter on the other side of Bentang Park. Approaching her, my former fellow teacher at Nantou Commercial High School, I couldn't hide my overwhelming excitement, saying,
"Oh, how long it's been since we last encountered each other! It feels like centuries!"
"You're right. We haven't met each other for a long, long time, even though our houses are in the same community. This is what they call 'Zhi chi tianya' (咫尺天涯)."
The Chinese saying "Zhi chi tianya" literally means "So near and yet so far." And as you can imagine, we reminisced about our past days many years ago, before our retirement from teaching jobs. Then, she told me that her legs had become weak, and she couldn't walk for over two hundred meters. I asked her where her husband, Prof. Zhongyong Chen (陳中庸教授), was at that moment; I said, "Didn't he come with you as an escort?" And she replied, "He's returning home to receive a mailed parcel. He'll be back soon."
It was true that Prof. Zhongyong was back at the same spot where we were in just a few minutes. Then Zhongyong, Shufen, Jean, and I started a new conversation full of humor and fun.
= = =
相關文章 (See also)：
1) 公園裡的 "張氏紫葳" (2022)
2) 《聖鴿》 (2019)
3) Summer Event No. 2: 盪鞦韆 (2018)
5) Good Friends! I Miss You So Much! (2010)
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