The World Of Tzu Chi(Vol.115).

TZU CHI 115 23 that I have had enough of his obstinate ways and stopped packing food home ever since. After coming home from a long day of volunteer work, I would prepare a meal of noodles tossed in sesame oil or soy sauce for Sheng-feng, who was equally busy making a living as a taxi driver. The noodle dish, albeit simple, was satisfying and kept my husband content. Whenever I complained to a senior volunteer about Sheng-feng’s refusal to accept the noodles prepared by the volunteers, shewould reply, “To him, no one else’s cooking could ever replace your home-cooked noodle dish.” My delayed return would trigger Sheng- feng’s foul mood and we would invariably end up quarrelling. Our conflicts often escalated to the extent that he would seize a broom from our hardware shop and hurl it across the street, startling the neighbours. Sheng-feng imposed a strict curfew on the family, warning our three sons and me that any one of uswho returns home past 10 p.m. would be barred from entering the house. Once, I panicked halfway through a meeting upon realizing that I would be late for the curfew. Principal Wang (Tian-ding), who was presiding over the meeting, noticed my uneasiness and remarked, “Stop fidgeting. It’ll be your turn soon to present the report.” I grew anxious and revealed that if I were to arrive home past the curfew, I would be locked out of the house. Principal Wang reassured me that he would personally explain my lateness to Sheng-feng, but I was certain my husband would take none of it. I sneaked out of the meeting the minute Principal Wang turned his back to us. True enough, the gate was about to be locked as I was approaching. Sheng-feng caught sight of me and shut the gate in one swift motion, ignoring my youngest son’s tearful pleas to leave the gate open for me. My neighbour came over to console me and offered to take me in for the night, but I politely refused and called out to my son to let me in. I picked a fight with Sheng-feng the instant I set foot in the house. Despite our constant disputes, I was determined to introduce Sheng-feng to Tzu Chi someday. Ready at your service Back then, we had to rent a vehicle to travel to our care recipients’ homes. One day, I prompted my fellow volunteers to rent a taxi from Sheng-feng for the home visits. “Take the taxi if he allows it. But if he turns down the request, try to persuade him by offering to pay the full fare for his services.” To my surprise, Sheng-feng readily agreed to the volunteers’ request! He fetched them to the care recipients’ homes and sent them home after – without demanding a single cent. “Call me again if you need a ride,” was all he said. The volunteers presented Sheng-feng with a booklet of oil ration coupons the following day as a token of gratitude, but I advised them against forcing Sheng-feng to accept the coupons, lest he becomes bothered by the gesture and distances himself from the volunteers. When I first started volunteering with Tzu Chi, Sheng-feng, stoic and serious as he was, refrained from commenting on my volunteer work and went on minding his own business as usual. But I managed to lead him to Tzu Chi and uncover his heart of gold. Once he had decided to commit as a volunteer, he immersed himself in the work and was even more enthusiastic than I was. Sheng-feng subsequently took charge of Fifty Years of Tzu Chi in Taitung