□Evening Post reporter Kaifeng Shi reports
Yesterday morning, Miss Liu accompanied her father, who is over seventy years old, to the hospital for a medical visit. They encountered a taxi driver who refused to accept payment for the ride. "I had money on me and my father's condition wasn't serious, but he just wouldn't take it—it was strange." As it turned out, this driver was repaying the kindness of a stranger in his own way. Over the past three years, he has waived the fare for more than 100 elderly passengers who were going to the hospital.
The taxi driver did not charge for taking the old man to the hospital
At 7:40 AM yesterday, Miss Liu was hailing a taxi at the intersection of Zhoujia嘴 Road and Fairness Road with a wheelchair, intending to take her father to Xinhua Hospital for his usual gout check-up. Soon, a mint-green Volkswagen taxi stopped in front of her. The driver, Master Zheng, got out of the car to help Miss Liu assist her elderly father into the vehicle.
Considering there was a sick elder in the car, Master Zheng drove very steadily throughout the journey. Upon reaching the destination, the meter displayed a fare of 12 yuan. "When I pulled out my wallet to pay the driver, he waved his hand and said it wasn't necessary. My father and I were both stunned, almost doubting our own ears."
Miss Liu told the reporter that she was completely baffled about Master Zheng's intentions. "I've heard of taxi drivers waiving fares for special cases. But I clearly had money, and my father wasn't seriously ill—this situation didn't qualify as special. Why wouldn't this driver accept our payment?"
Miss Liu said that she tried multiple times to give the fare to Master Zheng, but each time it was returned. In the end, she could only help her father get out of the car and smiled toward the window as a sign of gratitude before leaving.
The taxi driver's free rides are to repay a favor from three years ago
"Actually, I don't just waive the fare for Miss Liu's father. Whenever I encounter an elderly person taking my taxi to see a doctor, I always waive the base fare," Master Zheng explained last night when the reporter contacted him through the Volkswagen Taxi Third Branch Company. He had already finished his day's operation and was preparing to go home. When informed that the reporter wanted to interview him about the morning's free ride incident, he shook his hands and repeatedly said he felt "embarrassed," explaining that his actions were motivated by gratitude.
It turns out that three years ago, Master Zheng's father was involved in a traffic accident while shopping. A kind-hearted taxi driver saw the situation, helped him into the car, and rushed him to the nearby hospital, which saved his life. "At the time, that driver didn't ask for any fare or leave his name, simply doing a good deed and then leaving. After hearing about this from my father, I was deeply moved and resolved to help sick elders in the same way as a form of repayment."
Master Zheng said that over these three years, he and his shift partner have made an unwritten rule: whenever they encounter elderly passengers heading to the hospital, they will warmly offer them a ride and waive the base fare. When asked how many elderly people he had provided free rides for, Master Zheng laughed and said he couldn't remember. According to his colleagues at the company, in these three years, he has performed more than 100 such free rides.