The Mysterious Two Hours

By Mu Xiyan

I once lived in an apartment where the front desk manager downstairs was an old man in his seventies.

On the first day I moved in,I went downstairs to introduce myself with a gift for him.He was sitting behind the counter in the lobby,nodding his head.I am not sure whether he was bopping along to songs on the radio or simply dozing off.

“Hello,Uncle.I just moved in on the fifth floor.Nice to meet you.” I handed over the gift,yet he did not respond.

“Uncle,I live on the fifth floor and just moved in today.” I pushed the gift a bit forward and raised my voice.He still didn’t seem to notice.

我住過一間公寓，樓下管理員年紀很大，七十幾歲了。

搬進去的第一天，我拎著禮盒下樓自我介紹，看見他坐在大廳柜臺后面，收音機播得很大聲，頭一點一點的，看不出來是打拍子還是打瞌睡。

“伯伯，我是五樓新搬來的，以后請多多指教。”我遞上禮盒，但他沒有反應。

“伯伯，我住在五樓，今天剛搬來。”我把禮盒往前推一下，提高聲音。

“伯伯！我五樓！”我忍不住大吼一聲，面前的老人終于驚醒，慌忙左顧右盼。

“哦，送貨是吧？五樓啊？五樓租掉了還沒人搬進來哦！”他中氣十足地回答我。

搬進去很久，我才對管理員伯伯有點了解，我們交談的進度非常緩慢，我的時間不多，他的聽力有限。坦白說，這份工作對他來說太辛苦。有次旁邊餐廳喝醉酒的人吵架鬧事，他出去查看，還差點被推倒，要不是我剛好回家，被醉漢打的很可能就是他。

過了幾個月，我發現他每到中午11 點15 分，就會把大門鎖上，1 點10 分才回來。也就是說，他從不在柜臺里面吃中飯。

和他熟了，我偶爾也會開玩笑，有次剛好遇見慢慢走回來的他，我笑說：“伯伯你又去約會哦！”

他布滿皺紋與老人斑的臉居然紅了，像個少年一樣，期期艾艾地回答：“沒……沒有啦！”

每當午餐時間他就會消失，風雨不改，時間久了我忍不住好奇，但他總是笑嘻嘻的，不告訴我去哪里。

直到有一次，他請了幾天假，據說是在家里滑倒了，摔傷筋骨。

大樓管委會討論他的去留，大部分覺得他實在年紀太大，許多工作已不能勝任是一方面，萬一發生什么意外，誰都無法承擔責任。

幾天后，他來上班，肘上還纏著繃帶。我看了很不忍心，問他為什么年紀這么大還不休息，是因為錢的緣故嗎？

他搖搖頭說不是。

我又問他，為什么每天中午都不見，如果覺得工作時間太長，中午在柜臺吃飯就好，可以收收包裹什么的，這樣的話大家都會同意下午讓他提早回家。

他搖頭說不行。

我很疑惑，終于忍不住問他，每天中午到底去了哪里？

那天頂著大中午的太陽，他顫巍巍地帶著我，去了附近一座大樓。

那是一間老人療養院。

他妻子住在那里，行動不便，必須由看護陪著，他每天中午都來看她，再慢慢一個人走回去。老奶奶怕他累，總是不讓他來，所以他執意要繼續當我們的管理員，這樣他才有借口來陪她吃飯。

“Uncle! I’m from the fifth floor!”I shouted out,finally waking him up.He looked around confusedly.

“Oh,a courier,aren’t you? Fifth floor? No one has moved in yet!”He replied with a sonorous voice.

后評估作為檢驗配電網規劃成效、改進配電網規劃工作的手段之一，其重要意義已得到廣泛認知，電網企業在加強配電網規劃工作時普遍提出了后評估的要求。

I got to know a bit more about him long after I moved in.Our conversation was not smooth,since I had limited time and he had limited hearing.Frankly speaking,it was a hard job for him.On one occasion a drunk man was making a scene in the restaurant next door,he went out to find out what was going on and was nearly pushed over.If I hadn’t happened to pass by on my way home,he would have been beaten up by that drunkard.

A few months later,I found out that he would lock the door at 11:15 am every day and return at 1:10 pm.That means he never had his lunch at the counter.

Once we had built up a rapport,I occasionally played jokes on him.Seeing him slowly walking back one day,I joked him,“Uncle,you went on a date,didn’t you?”

His wrinkled face blushed unexpectedly.He behaved like a teenager,stammering,“No,I didn’t…”

He was always absent during lunchtime regardless of the weather.I became more and more curious about his absence,yet he just smiled without telling me where he went.

Later,he took a few days off.It was said that he had had a fall at home and injured himself.The management committee at the apartment building discussed whether he should be kept on at the position or not.Most people thought that he was too old and indeed incompetent for some of the required tasks.What’s more,who’s to blame if any further accidents happened to him? A few days later,he came back to work with his elbow bandaged.I felt bad for him and asked him why he was still working at such an old age.Was it because of financial needs?He shook his head.

I asked him again why he’d be gone every day at lunch? If the working hours were too long for him,why not have lunch in the lobby so he could still sign for parcels at the counter? This way tenants might agree to let him go home earlier in the afternoon.

He shook his head and said no.

I was very puzzled and couldn’t help bringing up the question,“Where do you go at noon every day?”

Against the scorching sun at noon that day,he tottered to a building nearby,together with me.It was a nursing home.

His wife lived there,since she had limited mobility and needed a caregiver all the time.He visited her at noon every day and walked back to work slowly.His wife didn’t want to tire him out and asked him not to come every day.Yet he insisted on working as the front desk manager of our apartment so as to have a justifiable excuse to have lunch with her.

Our apartment is the closest building to her nursing home.

The old lady in the wheelchair complained to me with a feigned frown,“I told him many times not to come so often,but he doesn’t listen.”

“You used to nag at home that you didn’t know what to eat if I didn’t come home for dinner.I’m worried that you might skip meals if I don’t come to keep you company,” he replied righteously.

“Still stubborn at such an old age.” The old lady shook her head and turned to ask me,“I hope he doesn’t give you guys any trouble?”

I remembered those packages he could not budge,those afternoons when he could barely stay awake,and the names of tenants he could never remember.

“No,he is so brave.The other day a drunkard was making trouble,he protected me.”

The old lady smiled like a shy and sweet young girl in her first love.Loving ourselves offers us a sense of security while being loved brought us happiness.That’s what the old lady had,someone coming to her window despite wind and rain,treating her as the young flustering girl he knew back then,even if she was now old with wrinkles and white hair.

That day,I called the director of the management committee.The next day,an announcement was put up at the building entrance:“The counter cannot receive parcels between 11:15 am and 1:15 pm.Thank you for your understanding.” (FromPeople Who Have Seen Love,Jiuzhou Press.Translation:Lu Qiongyao)

我們那棟公寓，是離老奶奶最近的地方。

“他這個人，就是怎么說都不聽。”坐在輪椅上的老奶奶皺著眉向我埋怨。

“還不是你以前在家里愛說，我不回來吃飯你都不知道該吃什么，我現在不陪你，你又該不吃飯了！”他理直氣壯地回答。

“年紀都一大把了，還這么固執。”老奶奶搖搖頭，轉過來問我，“他沒給你們添麻煩吧？”

我心中閃過老爺爺那些完全搬不動的包裹，永遠睡不醒的午后，老是記不得的人名。

“沒有，伯伯好神勇，上次有人喝醉酒鬧事，還是他保護我呢。”

老奶奶笑了，神情嬌憨一如初戀的少女。

我們因為自愛而得到安全感，但幸福感來自被寵愛。有人風雨不改來到你的窗前，就算你已雞皮鶴發，仍把你當作張皇失措的小姑娘。

那天回去之后，我給管委會主任打了一個電話。第二天，大樓門口貼起這樣的告示：“每天11 點15 分至13 點15 分，管理處無法簽收任何包裹，敬請諒解。”

（摘自《見過愛情的人》九州出版社）