At 5:50, Zhou picked up his thermos and headed out.
The folding hiking pole stood behind the door. He'd pulled it out of the side pocket of his backpack when he got home last night, leaned it there, and hadn't touched it since.
At 5:58, he reached the east gate of Huaiyin Park.
Inside the gate, the morning exercise group was already lining up. Twenty or thirty old people stood in staggered rows. A few were swinging their arms and rolling their wrists. A row of thermoses sat along the edge of the flower bed.
Out on the sidewalk past the gate, there was something new.
A big heap of red fabric lay slumped on the pavement. Next to it, a blower droned, pumping it full of air. The fabric rose a section at a time. First a pair of legs stood up, then the curve that joined them.
Two young men in suits each held a corner. Both had badges hanging on their chests.
Once the arch was half up, the two of them let go and turned to open the back of a white van parked at the curb. They unloaded box after box, each with eggs printed on the side. The egg boxes went into three stacks. After them came a folding table and a blood pressure monitor.
Inside the gate, twenty or thirty old people waited for the music to start. Outside it, the arch kept growing, inch by inch.
When it had swelled taller than a man, the lettering across the top rose with it.
Happy Lane Senior Care · Community Health Fair
People set up stalls outside the park every so often. He didn't give it a second look. He went in through the east gate and took his spot at the far end of the back row.
At 6:00 sharp, the music started.
Auntie Fang stood at the very front, holding up her phone and filming. The camera swept from left to right, reached the back row, and skipped right over him, as usual.
He carried on as usual too, from the opening form through Grasp the Bird's Tail and on through the rest of the routine. Ever since he'd gotten his tai chi down last week, his feet had stayed steady under him.
At some point, the blower had gone quiet.
At 6:40 they finished the closing moves, and he took his phone out of his pocket.
The intern group chat had a 99+ sitting on its icon.
He scrolled up to the first message he hadn't read. It was from Song Xiaobei, sent at 12:47 AM.
Song Xiaobei: The Sayings of Bro Zhou, entry 8: I'm not running. I can still walk it.
Two more came right after it.
Song Xiaobei: Additional notes. A stance that solid takes ten years, minimum. Undercover from HQ, and a trained martial artist on top of that.
Song Xiaobei: And why does he leave on time every day? To go home and train.
Further down, people had chimed in.
The chapter is available on the author's official publication page, though this copy was made without permission; reading the source supports their work.
Ops-Ah Jie: no wonder
Design-Xiao He: martial artists drink goji too?
Marketing-Linzi: I can vouch, I was standing right at the finish line
He stood there with the phone in his hand for a while.
Not replying would be easiest. He hardly ever said anything in this chat to begin with.
He tapped the text box, typed a few words, paused, and hit send anyway.
Zhou Yinian: I just walk slowly.
Song Xiaobei: Got it. Holding back.
Two more "got it"s popped up below that.
He put the phone back in his pocket.
At 6:50, he carried his thermos over to the scholar trees. Old Gu already had the pieces set up.
They were only seven or eight moves in when the loudspeaker outside the east gate started up.
"Free blood pressure checks! Sign up for free eggs! Free blood pressure checks! Sign up for free eggs!"
It carried across the plaza and through the rows of scholar trees without losing a single word.
Old Gu frowned.
"Noisy."
He brought his cannon down with a smack, harder than usual.
Every time the loudspeaker called out, another piece came down.
At 7:12, his pocket buzzed.
He took out his phone. It was the work chat.
Under Lu Heng's message from 11:46 last night, there was a new line.
Wen Yining: Noted.
The time beside it said 07:12.
He looked at it for a while. His finger rested on the screen for a moment. Then he put the phone away.
Old Gu rapped the board with a knuckle.
"Your move."
Around 7:30, Uncle Ma came over from the east gate.
He had two boxes of eggs in his arms. Before he even reached the table, his voice had drowned out the loudspeaker.
"Free! One box for getting your blood pressure checked, one box for putting down your name and phone number!"
He set the two boxes down on the edge of the stone table. Clear plastic, ten eggs a box, packed in tight. Several of the old people watching the game crowded around.
"That young fella called me Uncle!" Uncle Ma clapped his hands together. "Uncle! Uncle this, Uncle that. Like I was family."
He caught his breath and added one more thing.
"And he said my numbers could use some looking after."
He said that just as loudly as the rest.
Old Gu didn't even look up.
"Two boxes of eggs, and look at you."
"So what? Have you got any?" Uncle Ma jutted his chin at him. "Go get yours checked. They'll call you Uncle Gu too."
"My blood pressure's fine." Old Gu pushed his chariot forward. "Check."
Uncle Ma was about to fire back when he turned and spotted Zhou. He grabbed one of the boxes and shoved it into his arms.
"Xiao Zhou, take it!"
Zhou caught the bottom of the box and pushed it back.
"No need to be polite with me!"
Uncle Ma pushed it back at him, and Zhou pushed it back again. After two rounds of that, the box ended up next to Uncle Ma's hand anyway.
"Fine. Don't take it. See if I care."
That was what he said, but his hand was already going into his jacket pocket. He pulled out a sheet of paper folded twice over, shook it open, and held it out to him.
"You young people take a look. See what it says here."
Zhou took it. Across the top was a line in big print.
Caring for Our Elders · Health at Your Door
Below that were several paragraphs of small print. He didn't read any further. He folded the sheet back along its creases and tucked it into Uncle Ma's jacket pocket.
Uncle Ma patted his pocket, paid it no mind, and turned back to Old Gu to tell him how carefully the young fella had wrapped the cuff around his arm.
From across the plaza, Auntie Fang came over with her red speaker in her arms.
When she reached the chess tables, she glanced at the arch outside the east gate and curled her lip.
"Another bunch. Dressed nicer than the last bunch, I'll give them that."
Uncle Ma's voice shot right up.
"They're official! They've got badges on! They said they'll be coming by a lot from now on!"
Auntie Fang tucked the speaker under her arm.
"Go on, Old Ma. Keep asking for it."
She left. Not once had she looked Zhou's way.
Outside the east gate, the loudspeaker was still calling, over and over.
At 12:30, Zhou lay down on his bed in his shared apartment and closed his eyes.
[Nap timer started]
[Close your eyes and keep still. 20 minutes]
At the twenty-minute mark, a ding sounded in his ear.
[Nap: 1/7]
[A noon nap is good for the heart! You'll have plenty of pep this afternoon, Elder Zhou!]
He opened his eyes and looked at the ceiling.
Weekends were easy. The bed was right there under him. Come Monday, he'd have to close his eyes for twenty minutes at his desk on the seventeenth floor.
At 9:04 on Sunday night, his phone buzzed.
The work chat again.
Wen Yining: @Zhou Yinian After the department meeting tomorrow, come to my desk.
He typed one word and sent it.
Zhou Yinian: Noted.
At 9:30, he set his phone face down by his pillow and turned off the light.