Boss, more soup please

Wee-Yong,
I am sending you this article because it is related to our lives at NTNU. Hope this article help you retrieve some fond memories at that small campus.
Shieh Wenfu
Class of 1969, Biology Major.

----------------------------------------------- The government provided free room and
> board for the students at the NTNU (National Taiwan Normal
> University). But I always felt hungry at night. My
> roommates and I sometimes headed to the well-known beef
> noodle shops on the narrow Long Chuang Street, which
> separated the male dormitories and the campus.

> We always walked into the first shop on that
> street. The boss was from the Mainland. His soup was
> made from chickens and big bones, and was extremely
> delicious.

> With a very limited amounts of money in our pockets,
> we always ordered the plain noodle soups, beef noodle soup
> without beef. When the bowls arrived, we drank the soup
> first before touched the noodle. We then asked the boss,
> quote, "Can I have more soup".

> That boss always replied, "Hao" (Okay), and
> apparently with pleasure. We were poor, but we were proud
> too. We would never ask again if that boss showed any
> unpleasant body languages.

> I had no particular feeling about him at that time.
> As time passes by, however, I started to realize that a
> "hao" with pleasure is very difficult to attain.

> Mr. Yang and his wife, my good Korean friends, asked
> me to read some health insurance paper for them last week.
> Mr. Yang then said to me that he had a big problem. His
> wife's sister was terminally ill. They asked their most
> close golfing partner, Moon Ni, to take them to the San
> Francisco International Airport on September 21. Moon Ni
> declined because she will be busy that day.

> Mr. Yang and his wife both are seven years older than
> me. Both are decent people. It would be rude on my part
> to wait for them to open their mouths to ask me.
> Therefore, I quickly said to them, "Yang, don't worry. I
> take you to the airport." I saw smile and relief on their
> faces.

> If you have friends, who always say "hao"
> with pleasure, when you need help, keep them. They are
> rare animals. That noodle shop boss still remains in
> my memory simply because he was a rare animal.
Wenfu Shieh