Chapter 611 - 4: Homecoming (2)
It is now the transition between late summer and early autumn. The morning market starts at around five o’clock every day. If you go there at seven, the fresh vegetables will have been snapped up, leaving only some wilted old greens.
Three streets away to the west of the community is the town’s largest supermarket, which has a children’s playground, a buffet, and a dessert castle, all at very friendly prices. This draws even the residents of the new district to drive to the old district for shopping—
The supermarket in the new district is expensive and the product quality is poor, making it unpopular among the people in the new district.
...
The taxi drove onto the congested asphalt road of the old district, slowing down enough for Chen Zhou to view the small shops along the street. It brought back memories from his mind.
It wasn’t long before the taxi went into a narrow street barely wide enough for two cars and then stopped after another fifty meters or so.
"Here we are, scan the code or cash?"
The driver pulled the handbrake and turned to look at Chen Zhou.
But Chen Zhou was already staring blankly at the weathered "Green Tree Home" sign at the entrance of the community.
He didn’t come to his senses until the driver reminded him again. He took out his phone, scanned the code to pay, and then carried his bags into the community.
...
The sky was already dark, and the afterglow of the setting sun couldn’t penetrate the courtyard of the community surrounded by buildings.
The evening breeze was slightly cool.
Next to the long shed filled with bicycles and electric bikes, several elderly men sat around folding tables, either playing cards or chess, surrounded by a group of strategists offering advice.
The imposing figure of Chen Zhou, made even larger by the bags he carried, caught the attention of this group of retirees as soon as he entered the courtyard.
Chen Zhou was quite skilled at Chinese chess and often "competed" with these elderly men during his vacations.
Of course, it was more like Chen Zhou single-handedly thrashing them, frequently leaving the old men speechless as they stared blankly at the board.
However, although they couldn’t beat Chen Zhou at chess, the old men didn’t get discouraged. They often teamed up against him.
Each had his own approach, analyzing Chen Zhou’s strategies from different angles and then coming up with the best plan together.
It is said that two fists cannot defeat four hands, and indeed, by collaborating, they sometimes managed to beat Chen Zhou.
Whenever they won, the old men’s faces would light up with a smug smile, their words implying, "Kid, you still have much to learn," or, "Old ginger is hotter than young ginger, your elders will always be your elders."
Unfortunately, even when they teamed up, Chen Zhou still maintained a winning rate of over seventy percent.
Winning was a joy for everyone, but after losing, the elders’ strategy team would internalize, blaming each other for poor moves and insisting that following their own idea would have been correct, much like children who can’t handle losing. This too was a unique sight in the community.
Despite the blaming and arguing their quarrels never turned into real anger.
In their sixties and seventies, although they were somewhat like "old children," they still retained the steady maturity expected of elderly people.
Having retired with nothing to do, they would banter and tease each other for entertainment with friends they’d known for half a lifetime.
Despite any conflicts with workplace leadership, Chen Zhou was still more than willing to interact with these charming old men.
The elderly also admired Chen Zhou’s chess skills, and when he couldn’t find a job after returning home, they frequently introduced job opportunities to him.
However, not wanting to owe them any favors, Chen Zhou declined all their offers.
In fact, in terms of compensation and income, the jobs introduced by some of the old men were far better than the cement factory.
Having worked in the industrial and commercial bureau all their lives, these retired cadres could easily find jobs for young people, even if they had no connections.
Moreover, Chen Zhou himself was well-educated, young, and generally regarded as having a decent appearance, so placing him somewhere wouldn’t be considered favoritism.
...
"Hey, Grand Chess Saint is back. Saved up enough vacation days again to stay home for a few days, huh?"
One sharp-eyed elder watching his old friends play poker spotted Chen Zhou as soon as he walked into the community with his bags and shouted loudly.
His shout made the elderly playing chess at the nearby table realize Chen Zhou’s presence, causing them to sweep the pieces from the board and stand up immediately.
"Xiao Chen, you’re finally back.
You have no idea, there’s a kid in our community this month who’s amazing at chess. I don’t think he’s any worse than you; I certainly can’t beat him.
I told him about you, suggested you two schedule a match when you have time.
Hey, what a coincidence, I told him a few days ago, and here you are today. When he gets out of school, I’ll call him over to play a game with you..."
Before the elder finished speaking, the man he was playing chess with became anxious.
"Wang Zhanguo, you old rascal, I almost had you in checkmate, and you flipped the table?
If you can’t win, don’t play!"
...
The crude arguing and cursing of the old men left Chen Zhou standing there, trapped in place.
The light at the entrance of the community building was different from the solar street lamps in the factory, the hue warm and yellow.
With the sun just having set, the elderly had already turned on the lights for convenience in playing poker, and the little table and the people around it were all bathed in the light;
On the exterior walls of the gray and black buildings, small advertisements were pasted, with locksmith phone numbers painted in conspicuous blue paint;
The bicycle shed was particularly dilapidated, with no charging ports available. Someone had dropped a long plug from the second floor, trailing it on the ground to connect it to their electric bike;
In the further distance, children played and someone’s pet dog, wagging its tail, trotted by happily...
Watching all this, Chen Zhou slowly released the grip on his suitcase, letting its wheels rest on the ground.
In the eyes of outsiders, he was just a big kid who left home for over a month and came back. But the 28 years of length, hardship, and loneliness, who could understand it, and with whom could he share?
Keeping silent, Chen Zhou could only shout in his heart—
"I’m home! I’m finally home!"
...
Unlike Chen Zhou’s silence, the "war" of the old men quickly spread. Uncle Wang, realizing he had been playing unfairly, found an excuse to leave the chess table and walk over to Chen Zhou.
"Why did you bring so much stuff this time?
What is all this?"
Uncle Wang had watched Chen Zhou grow up more or less and was familiar with the old people in the same community.
Although it had been a while since they’d met, Uncle Wang didn’t feel distant at all and reached out to help Chen Zhou carry his bags without caring that Chen Zhou didn’t respond to him.
Only then did Chen Zhou come back to his senses, tightening his grip slightly to prevent Uncle Wang from taking away his treasured painting.
"Just luggage, Uncle."
He explained with an embarrassed smile and then added.
"I resigned from the cement factory. I quit."
"Oh, I was wondering why you came back early since you didn’t seem due for a vacation yet, turns out you quit."
Unable to help, Uncle Wang simply walked alongside Chen Zhou, chatting now and then.
"I always said the cement factory wasn’t a good job, you see it’s filled with smoke and filth every day, not good for your health.
A few days ago, I saw on my phone that working in places with lots of dust can cause pneumoconiosis. That disease is hard to treat, once you have it, you’re always coughing, and then you’re done for."
Despite not intending to propagate the news, Uncle Wang’s booming voice meant that even those at the entrance of the community building couldn’t help but overhear.
Neighbors and familiar old acquaintances, upon learning of Chen Zhou’s unemployment, enthusiastically gathered around. Some offered comfort, while others mentioned new job opportunities, but none spoke out of place.
During his time living on the island, no one on the entire island held a higher status than Chen Zhou, nor dared to act in a familial manner of concern.
Feeling the concern and care from others once more, Chen Zhou felt both touched and a bit bewildered.
Surrounded by the group of elders, he both politely declined their offers of goodwill and continued on, soon reaching the entrance of building unit one.
"Uncle, I’ll take these things up first, we’ll chat another time."
"Alright, when that kid is free I’ll call for you, isn’t it less satisfying to always play against us only..."
Uncle Wang escorted Chen Zhou to the building entrance before turning and leaving, seemingly wanting to indulge his chess addiction with his old friends a bit more.