阅读理解
The repairman told me “No charge Professor Pan!” We’re friends．
“I’d rather pay ” I replied．“If it’s free I can’t afford it!”
Chinese often refuse payment for professional services insisting “We’re friends now!” But then they show up later to ask me to tutor them in English or get them into an American university and I wish I’d have just paid the 30 yuan I owed them in the first place!
According to the Americans “There is no free lunch．” means that there’s a price for everything．And I’m always looking around to figure out what this means．
Many of our neighbours have given us fruit or flowers or costly teas never asking anything in return．For years a bicycle repairman has repeatedly refused to let me pay him．“Wait until you have something major to fix!”he insists．
I mentioned to a peasant friend that I wished I had a stone mill to grind(磨)flour for bread．A month later he showed up with a beautiful mill that he’d had his uncle in the countryside carve from a solid block of granite(花岗石)．
Chinese generosity(慷慨)is a real education for Americans like me who would rather avoid social entanglements(纠纷)and just hand over the money．But cash can’t compensate(补偿)for the greatest gift－friendship．
When an American saw some of my friends sitting on bamboo stools under the trees sipping(呷)tea he said “They must have nothing better to do．” “Actually ” I said “they are professors with plenty to do．But probably you are right in saying that at this moment they have nothing better to do．And neither do I!”
And I joined the group．When chatted about tea and Chinese cooking and how much my boys have grown since we arrived．One man said “They were pocket-sized when you came here．Now they’re taller than you．How time flies!”
How life flies．And Chinese are smart enough to share what they know they cannot keep．They freely give off their time never too busy to help a friend．And they are teaching me slowly to both give and receive．So the next time someone says “No charge．We’re friends!” I will thank them heartily．But if they show up later asking me to tutor them in English I’ll make sure they tutor my son in Chinese as well because there’s still no free lunch．