During summer vacation when he was 17, he came back from Japan to visit his family. One day, when he was walking along the narrow embankment between paddy fields, an old sharecropper approached from the other side. When they almost met, the old man deftly placed one foot onto the wet ground and turned his body at an angle to allow Lin to pass.
17 歲那年暑假，他從日本返台探親，有一回走在狹窄的田埂上，恰巧遇上一位老佃農從另一端走來，老佃農很本能地一腳踩入濕軟的田地裡，斜著身子讓出路來。