"Is everyone from the Retirement Department here? Oh, wait, no. The Silver Division. Just kidding, haha."
The voice blared out of a little tour-guide megaphone at the door of the bus, and the end of it trailed off in a crackle of static.
8:25, outside Chengshan Tower.
Zheng Kai stood by the bus door in bright orange quick-dry gear, a whistle hanging around his neck. The megaphone hadn't left his mouth once. So this was what the person in his profile picture looked like, the one standing on a mountaintop with both arms flung wide.
The Marketing people already filled most of the bus, and behind the windows they were all laughing. A guy with a buzz cut in the row by the door was laughing and slapping the seat in front of him. He'd knocked its headrest cover crooked.
The product team lined up to board. None of them said a word back.
Song Xiaobei was right behind Zhou. He sneaked a look at Zhou's feet.
"Bro Zhou, you actually wore those."
Zhou looked down.
Two creases across the tops, the soles worn away along the outer edges. Not one thing had changed since last week.
He took out his phone to check the time. The joint group chat was still sitting at the top of his chats. The name had been up there for a week, and it still read Marketing × Retirement Department.
The next one down was the photo his dad had sent that morning. Crooked, as usual. The three rows of numbers were about the same as the last few days. Not a single word with it.
He switched off the screen and got on the bus.
Wen Yining sat in the front row by the window, holding a coffee from the convenience store downstairs. The lid on the paper cup hadn't even been opened.
Song Xiaobei went down the aisle with a bag of steamed buns, handing them out row by row from the front. When he got to her, she shook her head.
Zhou sat in the back row. From almost the whole length of the bus away, he could see that coffee.
9:40, the parking lot at the foot of the mountain.
The bus pulled to a stop and the door opened. The stone steps of the trail started right at the edge of the lot, a railing along one side, climbing step by step into the trees.
Zhou set foot on the first step.
A ding sounded in his ears.
[Task started: Climb high and see far!]
[Walk slowly. No running!]
[If you run, your WeChat profile picture gets changed to a lotus flower. For 7 days!]
[The steps are slippery! Hold on to the railing, Elder Zhou!]
His brain put the picture together all on its own.
The group name: Marketing × Retirement Department. Under it, a long row of profile pictures. Right in the middle, a lotus flower, the one every retiree uses.
That would make the name official.
"See you at the campsite!"
Zheng Kai yelled it into the megaphone and shot up the steps first. Marketing swarmed after him, taking the steps two at a time. Someone hollered over their shoulder as they ran, and the laughter rolled up the steps into the trees.
Wen Yining looked back at the product team.
"Let's go."
The product team picked up the pace. Lu Heng charged out in front, tapped his sports watch, and was around the first bend in a few strides.
Zhou kept climbing one step at a time, same as always.
Song Xiaobei looked up ahead, then back at him. He dawdled for two steps, then dropped back to walk beside him.
"I'll stick with you. After that full routine last week, my legs were sore for days. I'm not risking a sprint today."
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Up ahead, people disappeared around the bend in clumps. Two Marketing stragglers came up from behind and brushed right past them.
After a while, the steps were down to just the two of them. One holding the railing, one carrying a thermos.
At 10:30, about halfway up, there was a pavilion where the steps turned.
It was made of wood. Its four red pillars had lost their paint in several patches, and the roof was laid with gray tiles. Along the side facing the mountain ran a long wooden bench, its seat worn to a shine. This story is hosted at novelping dot com.
Wen Yining sat alone on the bench with one hand pressed under her left ribs. A paper cup of coffee sat by her feet, the lid still unopened.
When she saw them coming up, her hand dropped at once. She scooped up the cup, stood, and headed on up without looking back.
Song Xiaobei stopped short, still panting.
"Wasn't Ms. Wen up in front the whole time?"
Zhou watched her go.
On the left side of her jacket, just below the ribs, a few creases were still there from where she'd been pressing.
At 11:30, the two of them were the last to reach the campsite halfway up the mountain.
A stretch of lawn, a few wooden tables and benches, and a little snack shop at the edge of the grass.
The Marketing people were sprawled every which way across the benches. Some had just lain down flat on the grass. All of them were panting with their mouths hanging open.
Zhou's breathing was even. Early to bed every night, a tai chi routine with the morning exercise group in the park first thing every morning. A climb like this was nothing.
Song Xiaobei hauled himself up the last stretch by the railing, groaning at every step.
The little megaphone crackled to life again.
"And the last two! The Silver Division, living up to the name."
Zheng Kai got up from a bench with the megaphone pointed at them. His eyes dropped and landed on the thermos in Zhou's hand.
"Make products for old people, and you get old first."
He jabbed the mouth of the megaphone at the cup.
The whole lawn erupted.
The buzz cut slapped his thigh, laughing. A girl with a ponytail next to him held up her phone to get a shot of them. Someone on a bench who was still catching their breath laughed so hard they choked, then coughed and pounded their chest.
Song Xiaobei took a step forward.
"You..."
Zhou reached out and held him by the arm.
Start a fight now, and the afternoon would only get uglier. And Song Xiaobei's full-time offer was still up in the air.
He unscrewed his thermos and blew on it once.
"You're right."
The laughter went up another notch.
Zheng Kai froze for half a second with the megaphone still raised. Then he laughed too.
At the product team's table, someone muttered under their breath.
"...He actually admitted it."
Wen Yining sat at the table. She didn't look up.
Under Zhou's hand, Song Xiaobei's arm was rigid. His face had gone red from his neck to the tips of his ears.
At 11:40, boxed lunches were handed out, one each, and everyone ate at the wooden tables.
Zhou tipped his head back and drained the last of the water in his thermos.
The box in the lower left corner ticked to 3/8.
He carried the empty thermos over to the snack shop. A hot water kettle sat on the counter, with a stack of paper cups beside it. He unscrewed the lid and filled the thermos to the brim. Steam pushed up out of the mouth. He screwed the lid on tight before carrying it back.
Wen Yining took two bites of her lunch and closed the box. She got up, went to the snack shop, pulled open the cooler, and took out a can of iced coffee. She came back and set it down within reach.
At one sharp, Zheng Kai climbed onto a bench and raised the megaphone.
"Three events this afternoon! Tug-of-war, one point. Sack race, one point. And the big finale, five-person giant skis, three points! Gotta give the Retirement Department a shot at a comeback."
The giant skis were two long wooden planks with five pairs of cloth loops nailed on. A team of five slid their feet into the loops. A thirty-meter straight course was marked out on the lawn, two teams side by side, and whoever crossed the line first won.
Zheng Kai looked down at his phone, scrolling, and read off the group list event by event.
"Giant skis, product team: Lu Heng, Zhou Yinian, Song Xiaobei."
After that, he read the names of two more people from their team.
Zhou's hand stopped halfway through unscrewing his thermos lid.
Song Xiaobei turned to look at him.
"Bro Zhou, you didn't open the group list? He sent it last week."
No signing up, no running.
There had never been any signing up to begin with.
For the tug-of-war, Wen Yining took the front spot for the product team.
At the whistle, she dug both heels into the grass and hauled back with her teeth clenched. The rope slid forward through her hands inch by inch, and the red strip of cloth in the middle crossed the line anyway.
She let go, walked to the bench, and sat down. One hand pressed against her stomach. With the other, she cracked open the can of iced coffee, tipped her head back, and took a drink.
In the sack race, the product team was hopping along in burlap sacks and had fallen way behind by the halfway mark.
Zheng Kai raised the megaphone to announce the score.
"Marketing, two to nothing."
The planks went down on the starting line.
Five people slid their feet into the loops. Lu Heng in front, Zhou second, Song Xiaobei third, the other two from their team at the back.
Lu Heng looked back.
"On my call. We run together."
"I'm not running."
The other four, front and back, all turned to stare at him.
The coworker at the very back spoke first.
"Are you kidding me?"
The Marketing people across the way heard it. Some of them started clapping and heckling. Others whistled at them.
Over by the bench, Wen Yining stood up. Her face was white.
"Get off. I'm going in."
Zhou looked at her. His eyes landed on the hand pressed to her stomach and stayed there for half a beat.
"I'm not running. I can still walk it."
His feet stayed in the loops.
Zheng Kai, megaphone still raised, burst out laughing.
"Is the Retirement Department going for a stroll?"
Lu Heng stared at him for two seconds.
"...We're out of time."
He turned back around and fixed his eyes on the thirty-meter straightaway ahead.
Wen Yining stood by the bench. She didn't say anything more.
Zheng Kai stood at the front of the Marketing skis. He tucked the megaphone under his arm, picked up the whistle hanging on his chest, and put it in his mouth.
All five from Marketing, him included, bent forward at once.