Musings about ways to act for a better world
- By Wang Yong
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E-mail Shanghai Daily, February 6, 2015
"Are you a regular customer here?" A 30ish lady asked me with a broad smile as soon as I sat at a table next to hers in a small eatery in Yangzhou, my hometown, less than 300 kilometers from Shanghai, this past Saturday. "How do you know? Did you see me here before?" I asked her. She dressed simply, like a high school teacher — my favorite image.
"I saw you talked with the cashier like old acquaintances," she said lightly. "Oh, I see," I answered. "Yes, the cashier and the cook both know me well. They all know I like a hot pot of sliced tofu."
Our impromptu conversation ended abruptly as her bowl of spicy noodles was served. I was still waiting for my hot pot of sliced tofu when she finished her meal and was ready to leave.
She stood up, but did not leave right away. She paused and bent over my table, asking with a smile: "Can I add you as my friend on WeChat?" (WeChat is a popular Chinese instant messaging device designed especially for friends.) I was surprised, because we were not friends yet. "Why do you want to add me on WeChat?" I asked politely.
"I liked your good manner, sir," she said, meaning the polite way I talked to the cashier. Well, indeed, my manner was good, I thought to myself, but was still reluctant to add her.
"I'm not an expert on WeChat and I'm not sure if I know how to add you," I said, hoping that she could get my polite message of refusal.
"I know how to do it," she replied. "Use your phone to scan my WeChat code and it's all done." So she did, and I was added to her WeChat. Then I saw her WeChat name: Zhi Xing He Yi (Act on Conscience). "Wow, are you also reading Wang Yangming about acting on conscience?" I asked her, apparently overjoyed in meeting a real friend who's also interested in the teachings of Wang Yangming (1472- 1529), a great military strategist and a great Confucian scholar who stressed the importance of following one's conscience (of doing good to others).
"I actually don't know about Wang Yangming, but my own teacher taught me Zhi Xing He Yi," she said.
At this moment she was about to run, so we bid farewell to each other. Later, as I read her diaries on WeChat, I found she was an avid seller in a local pyramid sale system, hawking beauty salon products. Oh my! Where was my favorite image of a high school teacher? Without hesitation, I put her on my blacklist, so that she would never see my diaries.
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