My wife was homeless as a teenager.
我的妻子十幾歲的時候，曾是個無家可歸的可憐人

On Friday afternoons,
每到周五的下午

a "business man" would walk up to her
一個“生意人”就會走到她身旁

and ask her if she was hungry.
問她肚子餓不餓

She would say yes,
她總會回答，是的

and he would take her into the restaurant on the corner.
于是，他就會把她帶到街角的餐廳去吃飯

She never felt any danger with him
和他在一起，她從未感覺到任何危險

He was just some dude offering her a meal.
他只是一個讓她蹭飯的陌生人

He would let her get anything in the menu.
他總是讓她隨便挑選菜單上的食物

He would sit and read the paper and drink a cup of coffee.
然后他會坐在一旁，一邊看報紙，一邊飲著一杯咖啡

There was never any conversation.
他們從不交談

When he was finished, he would pay the bill and leave.
他喝完咖啡，就會買單，然后離開

There was never any exchange of words
他們從未說過任何其他的話

other than "You hungry?"
只有“ 你肚子餓不餓?”

and "Have what you want",
“ 想吃什么就點什么 ”

and "Have a good afternoon".
“ 祝你下午愉快 ”

This happened multiple times.
這樣的事情發生了很多次

She never felt like a project to him.
她從未感覺，自己是他的某個慈善項目的捐助對象

She never felt less than him.
她從未在他身旁感到卑微

She never felt in danger.
她從未感到危險

He was just a guy who saw a dirty girl on the street who needed to eat.
他只是一個陌生人，他只是在路旁看到了一個臟兮兮的女孩，那女孩需要吃東西。

She has since gotten her GED,
后來，我的妻子獲得了GED文憑

graduated from a trade school with a fitness degree,
從職業學校里獲得了學位

and now has earned her MBA with honors.
現在還獲得了工商管理碩士的榮譽學位

She is an amazing woman and an amazing mother.
現在，她已經成為一位了不起的女性，也是一個好母親。

The one wish she has is that
她唯一的愿望是

she can run into the "business man" who bought her lunches
能夠與那個請她吃午飯的“生意人”偶然相遇

and thank him.
對他說聲謝謝。

微信公眾號：英語美文朗讀 孟叔的微博：孟飛Phoenix 孟叔的抖音：184302945