Even though a decade had passed, among the residents of their courtyard, only he had retired. For example, Li the Cook was a few years older than him but was still working at the factory, hired back despite his age. The job of a cook is less affected by age, and being older actually made people trust him more, so Li the Cook continued to work at the factory.
Officially retired was only Old Man Zhuang. Of course, Uncle Lan Sihai was no longer working either, but he didn't count as retired. After all, ten years ago he was already retired, which was called rehiring. Now that he was older, he simply wasn't rehired again.
Although Old Man Zhuang had retired, he retired as a seventh-level riveter, with a substantial pension.
