But Brian Carter remembered that he only stayed in the earthquake shelter for two days before his dad dragged him back home, because his grandma’s courtyard used to be a temple, so the buildings were very sturdy, with blue bricks and big tiles, completely unaffected by the earthquake—at most, a little dirt fell off. As for Brian Carter’s own family, they lived in a three-story building, which had been a barracks for army engineers just a couple of years ago, and was also built very solidly. During the earthquake, apart from feeling the shaking, not even any dirt fell off. So neither Brian Carter’s family nor his grandma’s family needed to stay in the earthquake shelter, and Brian Carter missed out on that kind of fun, which had always been a big regret for him.

Now, the people coming in and out of Ditan Park were just the neighbors from nearby. Some of them had houses of poor quality that developed cracks, so they didn’t dare stay at home. Others had houses that were fine, but their nerves were shot—they were too afraid of dying, so they’d rather suffer a few more days in the earthquake shelter than risk going home. But this situation was about to change soon, because as autumn set in, the weather was getting colder, and it was becoming more and more uncomfortable to stay in the shelters. Aftershocks couldn’t possibly last for months, so the remaining people in the park would soon have to go home.

“Old Brooks, whose child is this?” A neighbor who knew grandpa saw him taking a little kid into the park early in the morning and found it odd, so he called out from a distance.

“My second daughter’s son, my eldest grandson! Call him Grandpa Smith!” Grandpa answered while prompting Brian Carter to greet the man.

“Good morning, Grandpa Smith!” Brian Carter looked at the man who spoke—he was not even fifty, while Brian Carter himself was already over forty, yet he still had to call him grandpa. Where was the logic in that? But in Beijing, people cared a lot about face, or you could call it manners. No matter if two people got along or not, as long as they knew each other, they had to greet each other in front of outsiders, and had to use the proper title for the generation. If you were supposed to call someone grandpa, you couldn’t call him uncle—that would be an insult! And if you were supposed to call someone uncle, you couldn’t call him grandpa—that would be an even bigger insult!

As for how to determine the generation, there was no unified standard. Usually, it was decided individually, and rarely compared with each other, unless everyone was gathered together, in which case they’d rank according to the fathers’ or grandfathers’ generations.

“Hey! Good kid, so polite. How old are you?” When someone talks to you, you can’t just keep walking—that would be rude. So Brian Carter’s grandpa stopped with him, planning to chat for a bit before moving on.

“Four years old!”

“Four years old and already this tall? I thought you were in elementary school! What are you doing in the park with your grandpa so early in the morning?” This old man was a chatterbox, couldn’t stop talking, and kept asking Brian Carter questions.

“Exercising, to protect myself! Grandpa Smith, you should work on your belly too—it’s almost as big as a grasshopper’s! Look at my grandpa, he’s all muscle!” As Brian Carter spoke, he started to get cheeky. His habit of teasing people from his later life was hard to shake.

“Hahaha… hahahaha…” As soon as Brian Carter said this, everyone nearby burst out laughing.

“Old Brooks, who taught your grandson? He dares to poke fun at his Grandpa Smith!” Old Mr. Smith wasn’t angry—who takes a kid seriously? He was just passing the time.

“You’re not wrong, you really should work on that belly. Let’s go, good grandson, let’s stop teasing your Grandpa Smith and go work on our muscles!” Brian Carter’s grandpa thought his grandson was great at everything, even teasing and ribbing people. Not only did he not scold him, he even joined in.

“You just spoil your grandkid!” Old Mr. Thompson called out with a laugh from behind.

“Nonsense! If I don’t spoil my own grandson, who will? See you around!” Brian Carter’s grandpa didn’t take “spoiling your grandkid” as an insult at all. He saw it as recognition of his role as head of the family. Even a rooster knows to shield its chicks under its wings when a hawk comes—how much more so for people.

At this time, Ditan Park was desolate and empty. Aside from a few dilapidated halls, the rest was all woods and wild grass, with no asphalt or concrete roads—just dirt paths trodden out by people. Brian Carter didn’t dare run, because he was still wearing plastic sandals. On these paths, his shoes wouldn’t last 200 meters before falling apart. But not being able to run didn’t mean he couldn’t exercise. Brian Carter decided to learn tai chi from his grandpa. Whether it was authentic or not, who cared? The point was to move his body—he wasn’t trying to become a martial arts master.

Chapter 9: Golden Moon

Very authentic! That was Brian Carter’s final verdict on his grandpa’s tai chi. The reasoning was simple: after mimicking his grandpa for just over ten minutes, he was sweating all over and his arms and legs were sore. That meant he’d achieved the goal of loosening up his muscles and bones. The old man didn’t take Brian Carter’s interest in tai chi seriously—kids always lose interest after three days. He didn’t even bother to teach him properly; Brian Carter just followed behind, flailing around.

“Kid! Grandpa will take you to work. There are lots of fun things at grandpa’s workplace. In a bit, we’ll go to Dongzhimen for breakfast, and there’ll be meat for lunch. Want to go?” The old man really enjoyed spending time with his grandson, and he hadn’t had enough yet. He started encouraging Brian Carter to go to work with him, probably wanting to show off his big grandson at the office.