The Old Man in the Alley

Lao Zhou had been riding a three-wheeler in a village in the city for 20 years, and he saved up money to buy a second-hand electric car. The day before, I got into a car accident and lost all my savings. He sold the scrap metal and returned to the rickshaw, running two more times a day. A wicker chair was tied to the back seat so that customers could sit comfortably. I saved enough money to buy a second electric car, but it was stolen while parked downstairs. He pedaled back to the tricycle, and Xia Tian hung a cattail leaf fan on the back seat. This year the urban village will be demolished, and tricycles will not be allowed to enter the new urban area. He dismantled the car, hung the wheels on the wall of his new home, and placed wicker chairs on the balcony. Every evening he sat on it and shook it, as if he were still running on the road. When the neighbor kid asked what it was, he said, "This is the road I haven't finished yet."