A-Xuan put her cell phone on the coffee table, the screen was still on, it was the group of six elementary school classmates. Daming just sent a message asking everyone if there is a link to a useful dishcloth recently. His wife asked him to buy it, but he didn’t know which one was better. A Xuan smiled and thought to herself, Daming has been like this since he was a child. He always listens to his wife in everything.

There were four women and two men in the group, all of whom lived on the same street. A Xuan, Daming, A Jian, and three girls, Xiao Mei, Li Li, and A Fang. When we were young, we played hopscotch together, took pictures of foreign paintings, and stole pomegranates from the yard next door. When we grew up, we went our separate ways, and after we retired, we gathered together in this WeChat group. Daming is the leader of the group, an honest man who doesn't talk much, but loves to be open-minded. Ah Jian is another man who talks less and has simply quit the group recently.

Axuan watched Lili reply to Daming in the group, saying that she just bought a kind of bamboo fiber last week, which absorbs water well and does not shed hair. She sent you the link. Xiaomei then said that she also uses that kind, but it is more expensive. A Fang said, "It's expensive. I bought it cheaply last time, but it broke after washing it twice." A-Xuan did not participate in the discussion. She used an old-fashioned cotton dishcloth, which cost five or three yuan at the vegetable market. She had been using it for half her life and was used to it.

But she also understands them. Retired and living a simple life, it’s good to talk about these things.

A Xuan scrolled down the chat history. Yesterday we were talking about which supermarket had cheap eggs. The day before yesterday, it was Xiaomei who sent a photo of her granddaughter. The day before yesterday, it was Lili who asked if anyone knew how to repair a toilet. Daming said that he knew a master and sent his phone number. Scroll further down the page, and it was A Fang who asked if anyone could buy lychees together. He said that they were straight hair from Conghua and were half cheaper than in supermarkets.

All of these.

A Xuan doesn't think there's anything wrong with it. It has been decades since everyone has grown old. It is enough that we can still talk in the group and know that each other is safe. Sometimes when she looked at the news, she would remember that when she was a child, in the summer evenings, the adults were enjoying the coolness in the yard and shaking cattail fans, while the six children squatted under the street lamp and played with stones. Daming jumped for joy when he won, and Ajian didn't say a word when he lost, keeping his head down and playing another round.

Ah Jian...

A Xuan remembered the day A Jian quit the group, which was last month. No one in the group spoke, it was quiet. The next day, Xiaomei sent her a private message: Ajian has quit the group? A Xuan said, really? Let me see. When I clicked in, six people turned into five. Ajian's avatar is gone.

She was stunned for a moment, but didn't think much about it. A Jian has never liked to join in the fun since he was a child. He talks little and is boring. Sometimes if you ask him a few words, he will reply to you. When he was a kid playing hide and seek, he was the best at hiding. He could hide in the same place for an entire afternoon, and he would come out on his own if he couldn't find anyone. It's the same thing when I grow up. I heard that even though I worked in the workplace until I retired, I didn't have many close friends. He can do such a thing as withdrawing from the group.

But others in the group didn't think so.

Lili was the first to ask in the small group: What happened to Ajian? Retreat just because you say you want to?

Xiaomei said: Did we say something to offend him?

Ah Fang said: No, we talk about buying vegetables and washing dishes every day, who can we offend?

Daming said: I asked him privately, but he didn’t reply.

A Xuan also sent a private message to ask, but A Jian didn't reply to her.

This matter became a knot, and several people speculated for several days. Lili said, maybe you think we are too boring? Xiaomei said, bored? Isn’t that what retirement is all about? Ah Fang said that maybe he disliked the fact that we always sent those link to purchase orders, and he didn’t like to buy things. Daming said, no, he never talks. If you don’t like watching, you can block it and quit the group.

A Xuan listened to their guesses without interrupting. She remembered something.

Once last year, Ajian posted a message in the group, saying that he saw a news on the Internet about a project that was being carried out by a place that deceived many elderly people, and asked everyone to be careful. After sending it, no one in the group answered the call. After a long time, Lili sent an emoticon saying that she had gone to eat. Xiaomei then sent "+1". Ajian's news just sunk in.

Another time, A Jian sent a video, telling the story of a certain historical figure, but A Xuan did not click on it because she was not interested in it. No one in the group clicked on it, so Lili asked if anyone could recommend a good mop.

Ajian stopped sending messages later.

A-Xuan thought about this and glanced at the group again. Lili sent a screenshot of the dishcloth order, saying that it was finished, thank you everyone. Daming made a fist-holding expression. Xiaomei said, I will buy it too. Afang said, do you want to fight together? Xiaomei said, OK.

A Xuan didn't move. She put down her phone, went to the kitchen to pour a glass of water, and stood by the window to look out. Downstairs is a small park, where a few old men are playing chess and a few old ladies are sitting on the benches chatting. The sun was shining brightly, and the leaves were swaying gently in the wind.

She remembered Ajian's appearance as a child. She is thin and doesn't talk much, but she can run fast and jump high. One time they were playing hopscotch, and Ajian was the best jumper. Lili was not convinced, saying that he had the ability to jump on the biggest square, so Ajian jumped, sprained his foot when he landed, and his face turned pale in pain. He just didn't say a word and limped home by himself.

At that time, A Xuan felt that A Jian was quite tough.

Later, when they grew up, they went to different middle schools and universities, got jobs, got married and had children, and gradually became estranged. After retiring, Daming pulled everyone into the group, including Ajian. When he first joined the group, Ajian even said a few words, asking everyone how they have been over the years, where they live, and whether they are in good health. A Xuan remembered that she responded and said that she was fine and that her son was out of town and came back once a year. Others responded, chatted for a few words, and then the conversation moved on to other places.

Ajian stopped talking much after that.

Ah Xuan sometimes wonders, does A Jian feel that he has nothing to say to these people? Things that happened decades ago can be finished after just a few chats. In the current matter, he has his own affairs, and everyone has his own affairs, and they cannot get along with each other. He posted those news and those videos, but if no one answered, he stopped posting them.

But A-Xuan didn’t think it was a big deal. She, Xiaomei, Lili and the others don't talk about big things every day. Talking about shopping for groceries, washing dishes, talking about grandchildren, talking about which supermarket is on sale, isn't this what life is all about? I'm old, isn't this what life is all about?

But Ajian doesn't think so.

The day before yesterday, A Xuan met A Jian in the supermarket in the community. He was pushing a shopping cart, which contained a bag of rice, a handful of celery, and a bottle of soy sauce. A-Xuan greeted him, he nodded and stood still.

A Xuan said, have you withdrawn from the group?

Ajian said, yes.

A Xuan said, why did you retreat?

Ajian didn't answer immediately. He pushed the shopping cart forward, passed a young mother holding a child, and said, "It's not interesting."

A Xuan said, what do you mean?

A Jian said that all he had to do every day was dishcloths and ordering, and eggs were cheap. What's the point?

A Xuan said, what do you want to talk about?

Ajian glanced at her and said nothing.

A Xuan said, when we were young we played together and you didn’t like to talk, but you were there.

Ajian said, that's different.

A Xuan said, why is it different?

Ajian said that there were things that happened when he was a child. It's gone now.

A Xuan said, there are things happening now.

Ajian said, your things are not my business.

A Xuan was stunned for a moment.

Ajian pushed the cart and walked away. After taking two steps, he turned back and said, I'm not saying you are bad. It's just... boring.

A-Xuan stood there, watching his back turn around the shelves and disappear.

She stood for a while before pushing the cart to check out. On the way home, she kept thinking about A Jian's words: Your things are not my business.

She thought that Ajian was right. He lives alone, his wife has been away for several years, and his son is abroad and he doesn't see him even once a year. He doesn’t fight for orders, doesn’t study dishcloths, or cares about which supermarket has cheaper eggs. Those things are really not his business.

But what does he want?

A Xuan thought of the news link that A Jian had sent, the video of that historical figure. Maybe what he wants is someone to talk to him about that. But no one in the group answered. It’s not that I don’t want to answer, it’s that I don’t understand, it’s that I’m not interested, it’s that I don’t know how to answer.

A Xuan thought that maybe what A Jian wanted was not what to talk about, but how to talk. What he wants may be the feeling he had when he was a child, with a few people squatting under a street lamp, fighting for a long time for a stone, and then going home together after the fight. But now, that feeling is gone. Everyone lives their own lives, and the only thing they can talk about is the dishcloth.

When A-Xuan returned home, she picked up her phone and looked at the group again. Lili sent a photo of the dishcloth she had just received and asked everyone if it was like this. Xiaomei said, yes, that’s it. A Fang said, I also received it, it’s very useful. Daming made a thumbs up expression.

A-Xuan looked at it for a long time without saying anything.

She remembered A Jian's words: Those things about you are not my business.

She thought that Ajian quit the group not because he thought they were boring, but because he thought they were too far away from him. So far away that you can't even quarrel, so far away that you can only swallow "it's boring" by yourself.

The sunshine outside the window is still very good. A-Xuan put down her phone, went to the balcony to collect some clothes, folded them, and put them in the closet.

She suddenly missed A Jian a little.

It’s not that I want him to come back, I just want him to look like a child, squatting on the ground, head down, jumping seriously into the grid. At that time, they didn't have to talk about anything, just dance.

Now I can’t dance anymore, and I can’t talk together anymore.

A Xuan sighed, returned to the living room, picked up her phone, and sent a message in the group: I saw A Jian yesterday.

Lili replied instantly: What did he say?

Xiaomei: Why did you leave the group?

A Fang: Tell me quickly.

Daming: How is he?

A-Xuan looked at these question marks, thought for a long time, and typed a few words: He is fine. Just say it's boring.

The group was quiet for a while.

Lili made a sighing expression. Xiaomei said, alas, people think differently when they get older. A Fang said, let him go. Daming said, as long as he is good, it will be fine.

A Xuan said nothing.

She put her phone on the coffee table, got up, went to the kitchen, turned on the faucet, and started washing the lunch bowls. The water was flowing. She washed them slowly, one by one, and then rinsed them again with clean water.

She still uses the old-fashioned cotton gauze dishcloth, which costs five yuan and three yuan, and has been used for half her life.