When you get used to something too quickly, when it suddenly disappears, that feels wrong too.
That morning, Qiu Xianzhi woke up before the alarm even rang. It wasn’t because Jiang Zhuo had called him up, he had simply woken on his own.
He waited a while, but Jiang Zhuo still didn’t come knock on his door.
As soon as the alarm went off, Uncle Zhong knocked and came in.
What an ungrateful little thing, Qiu Xianzhi thought to himself. Just as Jiang Zhuo reached his doorway, he sneezed. “Achoo.”
Jiang Zhuo rubbed his nose and greeted Qiu Xianzhi. “Qiu Xianzhi, good morning.”
Jiang Zhuo stepped forward and gave Qiu Xianzhi a hug.
Qiu Xianzhi was going to work alone today. Jiang Zhuo felt like skateboarding today, so he wasn’t going along to work with him.
Jiang Zhuo walked down the road alone carrying his skateboard, and watched a white Mercedes G-Class drive past him. The windows were rolled up, so he couldn’t see who was inside.
Jiang Zhuo felt that the owner of the Mercedes G-Class had to be more handsome than the owner of the BMW earlier, because the Mercedes slowed down when it saw someone.
Unlike that earlier car, when it passed by him, he had felt like his soul was about to get yanked right out of him.
Jiang Zhuo, who was at least a little absurdly social, waved and cheerfully greeted people whenever he saw them. It didn’t matter if he knew them or not.
It was still early, and he ran into two elderly men out taking a walk together.
Jiang Zhuo: “Good morning, uncles!”
His mom had told him that only men with white hair and canes should be called grandpa. Older men should be called uncle.
Anyone who could live here was no ordinary person. Before they could even figure out who he was or whether he had addressed them correctly, their hands and mouths had already responded to Jiang Zhuo on their own.
The two men out walking had just been chatting idly, but now they both started asking each other who that was. Was he new here?
Both shook their heads. This place was quiet, and all old fellows like them knew each other. No one had mentioned any new neighbor moving in.
Jiang Zhuo kept gliding forward and soon ran into two more people out walking. The two of them were chatting and laughing, each holding the other’s arm like the best of sisters.
Jiang Zhuo stopped in front of them, intending to ask if there was any good place where he could skateboard.
Jiang Zhuo: “Good morning, aunties!”
“Hello there, little friend!” The two elderly women had been chatting happily when they saw a pretty young boy greeting them.
Their sons and grandsons were all busy people. The moment they saw Jiang Zhuo, it felt like seeing their own grandson.
“You’re about the same age as my grandson. You should call us grandmas!” said one kind-faced grandmother. Looking at such a pretty child, her smile turned even gentler. Most of the year, it was just a few old people like them around here. With their aging arms and legs, they rarely saw any young people.
Seeing someone as lively as Jiang Zhuo made her feel years younger.
Jiang Zhuo was a little embarrassed and quickly corrected himself. “Hello, Grandma!”
Jiang Zhuo: “My mom told me to call someone Grandma only if their hair is turning white and they look older. But your hair is all black, and you don’t look old either. I didn’t know what to call you, so I called you auntie.”
Afraid they wouldn’t understand what auntie meant, Jiang Zhuo explained further. “Back in our village, whoever my mom calls older sister, I call auntie.”
By the time he finished explaining, Jiang Zhuo’s face was already a little red.
The two women were even more delighted inside after hearing that. He was saying they looked young, and who wouldn’t be pleased to hear that?
Both of them burst into hearty laughter. It wasn’t as though no one had ever praised them before. They had heard all sorts of flattering speeches, one line after another, polished enough to almost sound poetic.
No matter how they listened, those should have sounded better than these few simple words. But to them, that one “auntie” beat a thousand fine phrases.
Of course, with eyes that had seen all kinds of people, they also noticed Jiang Zhuo’s slight shyness, so they stopped laughing. “Where are you headed?”
Jiang Zhuo: “I wanted to ask where there’s a wide open space. I want to go skateboard.”
As he spoke, Jiang Zhuo set down the skateboard in his hand and showed off by spinning around twice in front of them.
The two grandmas were very encouraging and clapped as they praised him.
One of the grandmas told Jiang Zhuo to follow the road, turn right at the third fork, and keep going forward.
After saying goodbye to the two grandmas, Jiang Zhuo rolled onward on his skateboard.
Only afterward did the two grandmas belatedly realize they still didn’t know who the little guy was. After comparing notes, neither of them had ever seen him before.
When Jiang Zhuo reached the third fork, the phone in his pocket started vibrating.
He took out his phone, and the WeChat video call screen popped up. It was a group call from the group chat ‘Armored Warriors God of War Alliance’.