Restart Life at 60 Years Old

Sixty-year-old Liu Yi received double good news on the day of his retirement: he bid farewell to the podium after 42 years, and his daughter received the admission notice for a full-time master's degree from Cambridge University. For most of my life, I lived in the expectation of others, taught, supported my family, and kept my peace. When I was young, I dreamed of seeing the world, and my paper-cutting and bamboo weaving skills that I had put aside for half my life were all buried in the depths of the years. Before he got old, he insisted on going to England to accompany him to study, hoping to live for himself. A three-month trial bet was made, but the wife couldn't resist her husband and gave in in tears. Carrying his luggage, hiding his study scissors and bamboo silk tools, Liu Yi embarked on his journey to England. When I first arrived in Cambridge, I encountered acclimatization, cultural barriers, and foreign prejudices one after another. A mouthful of Chinese fireworks can unexpectedly open up the situation; a hot home-cooked meal can dissolve the alienation in a foreign land. When he set up a food truck stall, he encountered severe investigations and internal involvement from his colleagues. He refused to compete for the lowest price and regained his intangible cultural heritage skills. Paper-cutting amazes professors from famous schools, and bamboo weaving impresses passers-by in foreign countries. An old man in his 60s stands tall with fireworks and spreads his skills with ingenuity. From street stalls to joint-venture Chinese restaurants, we use industry to nourish cultural creativity; from being alone to working together as a couple, we carry thousands of Chinese intangible cultural heritages to the sea. After reaching sixty, life may not be all about retirement. When old age meets distant places, ordinary people can turn their ordinary years into a grand journey across the ocean.