— A Reunion with Former Classmates and Old Friends
Yesterday, Lao Zhan (also known as Peter Chan) called to ask if we could join them for lunch today. He said our old friends—my former classmate Guo Tian and his wife, Xiao Juan—were coming from Puzi, Chiayi, for a special visit to Taichung.
Jean responded with a cheerful “Yes!” and I quickly added, just as excited, “Sure! We’d love to see them again—and you two as well!”
Around 11:30 this morning, the three couples gathered at a small but cozy restaurant in downtown Taichung. We chatted nonstop all through lunch. Afterward, we headed over to Lao Zhan and his wife Xiuzhen’s place, where the conversation continued until Guo Tian and Xiao Juan left around 3 p.m.
In their “cool” living room—cool both literally and figuratively, thanks to the air conditioning and elegant décor 😄—Lao Zhan served us excellent tea. Without those refreshing drinks, we might’ve been too thirsty to keep up the long, lively conversations.
We shared many stories over tea. Some were personal anecdotes that truly struck me, as I had never heard them before this special reunion.
As Guo Tian recalled, his father—very much like mine—couldn’t afford to send him to any high school except Shizhuan, the Teachers’ Junior College. Fortunately, it was fully government-supported: students paid no tuition or fees and were even provided with free food, clothing, and housing.
“One day, my father came to find me while I was working in the rice paddy,” Guo Tian said. From his vivid account, we learned that this moment marked a turning point in his life. His father had finally agreed to let him take the entrance exam for Shizhuan—thanks to a teacher who had been urging him to give his son a chance. Guo Tian rushed to his junior high to register for the exam and made it just ten minutes before the office closed for the day. Had he arrived a bit later, the teacher in charge would already have left for Chiayi.
“That was a close call!” we all said in unison.
“If you’d missed the deadline,” Lao Zhan joked with a grin, “you wouldn’t have been able to take the exam. And then Xiao Juan would never have met and married such a great husband.”
“She would’ve married someone… probably better than me,” Guo Tian said, smiling.
= = =
相關文章 (See also)：
1) 明潭之旅 + 車埕探秘 (2025)
沒有留言:
張貼留言