How this, Vietnamese eatery became, a cohesive place in the local communities, how something small like a small food shop, made such an enormous difference in the lives of the younger generations, off of the Front Page Sections, translated…
There's a Vietnamese eatery close by to the Wuling High School in Taoyuan, it's the most frequent hangout place to have the Vietnamese foods for the school students, the students don't call the owner, Phuong "owner", but instead, "aunty", because to these young students, calling the woman "owner" is like going to eat at a diner, and calling her "aunty", was like coming home to dine.
Phuong from Vietnam, received the scholarship funds to come to Taiwan to study, but the Vietnamese War caused her to get displaced from her own home country, she'd lived here for close to fifty years to date. She'd started her Vietnamese eatery for sixteen years, and there were only the seating in her shop, enough for, no more than a dozen customers, but every time around the lunches and dinners, the diner would be filled with laughter, and the walls of her eatery, were filled with the photo ops of her and the students from Wuling High School.
the group of students, who became like children to the woman...photo from UDN.com
There's the pho, the Vietnamese dishes served, also the Taiwanese fried rice as well, all the items were, under a hundred dollars N.T., but what attracted the students to return as customers, wasn't the price, but the heart and kindness of Aunty Phuong.
Phuong pointed to the photo of after a wedding banquet on her walls, told, "the young man ate here almost every day in his high school, he'd graduated eleven years ago, and married during the pandemic, after the restrictions of gathering had been lifted, he'd invited me to his wedding banquet.", there was also a series of photos of boys with Phuong. She'd told, "now, the lads are all abroad for their, studies, and every summer they are on vacation, they would always come back to eat."
The reason why the students of Wuling High School loved the aunty so, is because Phuong genuinely cared for these students, like a mother or an older sister would, and, as a student who'd normally ordered the soup and the fried rice came in, and only ordered the rice and not the soup one time, she'd known, that the student didn't have enough allowance, and she'd, offered the student an extra bowl of soup.
Awhile ago, she'd gone back to Vietnam for a wedding of a relative's, the shop closed for a month. She'd posted the notice on the door, and, with the added, "if you miss me, do leave a message for me", and, the students stuffed her box with "I love you aunt", "I really miss your fried instant noodle", "do come back home soon", "Can't find any food to eat when you're away…", and, "I miss our conversations in Vietnamese", it'd warmed her heart.
So, this is how love passes around, because this woman showed the kindness for these students who'd, frequented her shop, naturally, these kids respected and loved her, like she was their, next-of-kin too, and, this is a great way to reach out to the kids in the neighborhood, and because of this woman's watching over these students, showing them that she cares for them a whole lot, chances are, these students who felt her love, would NOT turn bad, and they'd become, her children…
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