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away from a Sunday evening service to watch some people playing dominos, even though I was too young to realize that they were gambling. This was the only time Father had ever whipped any of us, an indication of his extreme anger at me. He really did not approve of the corporal punishment that Mother administered on Ruth and me, and when Helen came along, he asked Mother not to spank Helen so much. He was never tempted to do anything against his sense of right and wrong. When a relative tried to involve him in opium, he would have none of it, even when his relative thought Father would succumb to the temptation once the drug was sent to him without his consent. When the 'goods' arrived at the pier and Father got the bill of lading, he refused to accept it so that it was returned to San Francisco.
Father was always trying to advance himself and his family, educationally, not only with books but also with experience. I can still picture him before a kerosene lamp at the family table reading, practising calligraphy, or teaching Ruth before she was old enough to attend school. Ruth was quiet, studious and bright, and learned quickly. I was active, impulsive and spirited, somewhat of a clown at times, but not so bright as Ruth. On one occasion when I was no more than four, he tried to teach me addition in Chinese by memorizing 'one tangerine and two tangerines make three tangerines'. I consistently got it wrong, and in frustration Father rapped me on the head with his knuckle, at which I ended up in tears so that Mother had to come to the rescue.
He bought books and dictionaries for himself and children's books for us. I used to be fascinated with a book about birds where the bluejay acted as the policeman among them. I used to pour over repeatedly the illustrations in our huge Bible and in other books, letting my fantasies take over. He bought a large bookcase for these books, which included textbooks he and Ping Lim had used and the Chinese classics he had studied in China. I grew to love them and often used them as references. Mother, who had a tendency to throw away anything that reminded her of her deceased loved ones, unfortunately gave away most of these books while I was in Nebraska. It was lucky for me that she kept these Chinese books that included the classics which I had proudly used when I attended Chinese language school and which Father would explain to me if there was something I could not absorb at school. When Ruth graduated from the 8th grade, Father shed tears of joy. How much greater his joy would