Translated…
My mother felt displeased, even upset, about how I’d needed to work overtime at night, and even, on the weekends, I’d needed to, give lectures, she would keep on, nagging, nagging, “It’s just my misfortune, I’d waited for an entire week, and I still can’t go on trips on the weekends!”
At which time, the only way I can get her to calm down, to change her upset was, sharing a portion of my bonuses from the lectures, and every time I’d done my lectures, she could always get a “green face” (my mother’s nickname for a thousand dollars!”.
Sometimes, when I’d had a ton of conferences to go to, or had too many lectures scheduled, my mother, on the one hand, felt displeased, but on the other, she’d earned extra allowances, she’d started feeling, somewhat ambiguous, and would tell me, “You’d gone to so many meetings, there’s no way you can spend all of the money you’d earned”, ———actually, I really, don’t earn that much for my lectures at all, to me, I’d rather, relax at home and write my articles), and she’d complained, “I’m so unlucky, I can’t even, go out to travel”. At which time, I’d, played with her, “You have more money than you can spend!”, and, my mother would immediately have that sense of imminent danger, as if she didn’t answer my question with care, then, she wouldn’t be able to earn the bonuses, she’d claimed, “So what if I can’t spend it all, put it on my body, and, just burn it up, it’s best!” (it’s best to keep my money close to me!)
Loo Chang too, loved money, he has a whole case of coins and paper currencies, that was his earnings from the flea market he’d set up selling all of our unneeded things, the money he’d earned. But every single day, he’d still gotten into the habits of checking my pockets, and, take out the extra changes, I’d asked him why he’d wanted the changes for? I’d originally thought he was going to put the money into his tin can to collect, but it wasn’t. Loo Chang told me, “I want to give the changes to Grandma, because Grandma likes money, and she didn’t like the one-dollar coins, just the five-dollar and ten-dollar ones!”, I’d asked him, why does Grandma like money, he’d given me a very interesting answer, eh said, “because grandma loved putting the coins into the slots when we go on the busses!”—this pair of grandmother-grandchild are truly, bus-fanatics! Loo Chang knows grandma the best. Loo Chang added, “Plus, grandma gets so happy when I give her money!”
Once, I’d taken the whole family to the Mandheling Café, to have waffles, to have the teas. The two of them, grandmother and grandson, finished everything off the tables. A combo meal costs $399N.T.s, we’d gotten $1N.T. back as change, Loo Chang found a wooden carving of the God of Fortune by the cashier’s register, with coins on the hands. Loo Chang asked me, “Daddy, why do they put money on the statue?”, I’d told him, that that was the God of Fortune. Loo Chang then asked, why is it that when it’s the God of Fortune, people would put money in his hands? I’d replied, “Because the God of Fortune loves money!”
Then, something in Loo’s mind connected, he’d opened his eyes up wide, excitedly, stated, “Daddy, Grandma is also, a God of Fortune too!”—surely she is, she is, our own very, God of Fortune.
So, you can see how the child connects one event in his mind to something new that he’d found out about, and that just shows a child’s ability to get things quickly, because they’re minds are still growing, and making brand new connections every single day, and, if you provide for them different experiences in life, they will have a mindful of knowledge.