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Joe began another remonstration, continued concerning Loveforlorn. They met again he said. This time she did the talking and he had to chase her. He likes that. It was a gentle chastisement to his former day's big be. She was big on Chi, and though she claimed to have read or browsed-through every book in the local, not small library, and so intent in the assumption that he was an ignorant American, without any concept of Eastern philosophy, that she did not grasp his having told her, he had taught himself philosophy from Chinese mysticism. He saw her a number of times, of which each time he had to chase her, and he had never chased a woman before in his life. She was tall and macho, and he liked that. English was her second language, and since the Chinese have a very difficult time with English pronunciation, he could but only pick up the gist and not the detail.

One day as a fortuitous incident would have it, he heard a local say "Ni Hao." to some Chinese people, and they returned the phrase. Next time he saw the guy he asked what Ni Hao meant ? It means good morning in Chinese. So that's what her name means he thought. Now all he had to do was remember that. He practiced. But it always took awhile, and the more the pressure of instantanity, the harder it was to remember. Give it to me. I'll give it to you when I am good and ready. So he didn't use her name. She didn't use his. One morning he meets her down on the corner that way, and he gets on his knees as she rapidly approached, with her broad sun-hat, and he says Ni Hao.

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