Baoye binged on betel nuts regularly, but whenever he saw his daughters eating fudge, he would want to join them and eat some pieces himself. His daughters, who were still in elementary school, came up with an idea to help their father quit betel nuts. They made a pact with him: “Daddy, these packets of fudge are all for you. Whenever you feel the desire to eat betel nuts, you can eat the fudge instead. And when you finish them all, we will supply you with new ones.”
Baoye did not cut down his betel nut consumption because of that, but whenever he chewed them, the image of his daughters’ faces when they offered him the suggestion would temporarily come to his mind. Once in the not-so-distant past, the whole family was preparing for a trip to Korea, and Baoye was going to purchase some betel nuts from the betel nut stands as he customarily did for trips, but when he reached into his pockets for his wallet, he found a pack of fudge.
As it turned out, several days before the trip, his daughters discovered that their daddy was not very keen on quitting betel nuts at all. So they thoughtfully split the fudge into several small packets for their father and put them in his jacket pockets. “Splitting them up into small packets makes it more convenient, so there is no excuse now, is there? Next time you go out to buy betel nuts, remember to eat the fudge instead.”
Photo: Tai Ta-hsiang, Liberty Times
照片:自由時報記者臺大翔
At that time, Baoye still chewed betel nuts, but a thought came to him: “There will be no place to buy betel nuts in Korea anyway. I might as well just quit chewing them.” Five days of travelling in Korea went by and he did not even chew one betel nut. After he returned to Taiwan, he successfully resisted the betel nut lady’s allure as well. That was when a revelation came to him. For all those years, he had thought betel nuts were unquittable for him, but in reality they were not as important as he imagined.
After publishing his experience online, Baoye’s article swiftly drew heated discussions among netizens. One netizen even shared his version of the story: “When I was a kid, I also used to pester my grandfather to quit smoking by saying I would only come to him and let him hug me if he did not smell of smoke, and in the end he managed to quit smoking.”
(Liberty Times, translated by Ethan Zhan)
檳榔吃得很兇的寶爺,每當看到女兒在吃「融化糖」時總會湊過去想吃幾顆,兩個就讀小學的女兒便想出讓爸爸戒檳榔的方法。她們和他立了「約定」,「把鼻,這些融化糖全部給你。當你想吃檳榔的時候,你就可以吃融化糖代替檳榔。等你吃完,我再補新的給你。」
寶爺並未因為這樣少吃檳榔,只是每次在吃檳榔時女兒叮嚀的臉孔總是短暫出現在腦海中。直到不久前,全家準備去韓國遊玩,寶爺本想「按照慣例」地去檳榔攤「存糧」,往口袋想找皮包時,卻摸到了一包融化糖。
原來女兒在前幾天發現爸爸根本就沒有努力戒檳榔,於是貼心地幫爸爸把一串的融化糖拆成一小包,塞在外套口袋裡,「拆成一小包一小包更方便了,你總沒理由了吧。下次要買檳榔時,記得吃糖!」
當下寶爺仍吃著檳榔,不過心裡卻想著,反正接下來幾天在韓國也買不到檳榔,乾脆趁機戒掉。韓國行五天過去,他也成功地「一顆未碰」。回到台灣後,也沒有受到檳榔攤老闆娘的「誘惑」。這才發現,多年來一直以為戒不掉的吃檳榔習慣,在心中的分量其實並沒有他以為的那麼重。
此篇文章PO上網後隨即引發網友熱議,還有網友分享「我小時候也是常在爺爺旁邊撒嬌要他戒菸,他沒有菸味我才會湊過去給他抱抱....結果他戒菸成功了!」
(自由時報)
The strongest earthquake to hit Taiwan in 25 years killed at least 16 people and damaged dozens of buildings, but the destruction was largely contained thanks to decades of preparedness work. Taiwan sits on the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of intense seismic activity along the Pacific Rim, and — much like neighboring Japan — has a long history of catastrophic quakes. How does April 3 compare with other recent quakes? The April 3 earthquake, which measured 7.4 on the moment magnitude scale, was felt across Taiwan. It was the most severe since a 7.6 magnitude quake in 1999 killed
A: Artificial intelligence technology has been causing controversy lately: a student was caught cheating with AI to win the grand prize in an art contest. B: That’s so absurd. Does this mean that AI paints better than humans? A: Maybe. Luckily, the student was later disqualified. B: And more absurdly, it’s becoming more and more popular to use AI technology to “resurrect” people. A: Yeah, some netizens even posted videos featuring the late singer CoCo Lee, who was “resurrected” by them with AI software. A: 人工智慧的爭議不斷,有學生違規使用AI參加美術展,甚至贏得首獎。 B: 真誇張,這是不是代表AI比人類還強大? A: 或許吧,幸好得獎資格被取消。 B: 還有更誇張的︰讓死者重現的「AI復活」技術越來越熱門。 A: 對啊,還有網友製作已故歌后李玟「復活」的影片呢! (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
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