Our neighbour, Mr. Chen, is almost eighty years old. He worked as an engineer for many years and traveled to countries like Australia, India, and China. Now he is ill and stays home most of the time. But on Wednesday afternoons, my mother makes a glass of warm milk and asks me to bring it to him. I always knock on his door and wait quietly outside.
Mr. Chen grew up near the coast. At nineteen, he left his family to work on big projects far away. He told me that the first time he got on a ship, he felt like a passenger in a dream. He wore a wide hat and stood on the deck, watching the clouds move slowly across the sky. Back then, he did not know anyone except a few workers he had just met.
In India, he helped build a road near an old palace. The weather was terrible, and a dark cloud often covered the sky for many days. He said the ground became soft after heavy rain, and they needed solid materials to keep the road safe. He worked side by side with local servants and laborers. Even though they could not speak the same language, they became good friends.
Later, he worked in China and then in Australia. He told me that in some small towns in Australia, he could not find milk anywhere, so he learned to drink black tea instead. In China, he once stayed in a small room that felt like a prisoner's cell because it had only one tiny window. But he never complained, because he had plenty of wonderful memories from every place he visited.
One story I like best is about a bridge project in Australia. The workers turned a huge wheel to lift heavy steel pieces high into the air. The work was hard and dangerous. One afternoon, a young worker lost his balance and fell from a high platform. Mr. Chen jumped forward and caught the young man's arm. After that, the other workers called him a hero, and Mr. Chen said it was the most embarrassing day of his life.
Today, Mr. Chen cannot go anywhere by himself. His children visit him on weekends, and neighbours like us help bring him food and drinks. He always smiles when I arrive and says, "Thank you, my young friend." I think his solid spirit and warm heart have made him the kind man he is today.
I hope one day I can travel just like Mr. Chen and learn from people all over the world. He has taught me that you do not need to go anywhere special to find an adventure. You just need to keep an open heart, even when the sky above is full of terrible dark clouds.