Someday, we will grow old and our children will grow up. What will our lives be like after retirement?

If I build a lodge where friends can come visit us and pay us a little bit of money to hire helps for room service, it might be best for everyone.

To find a quiet place and build a comfortable house has always been the dream of my life. 10 years ago, unexpectedly introduced by a friend, I headed to the mountains of Toucheng town. Immediately after I saw the land, I made my decision, paid a deposit and completed the transfer registration. Very soon, I became one of the mountaineers. After all that, it was a long story. Every weekend, I drove alone to the mountains to dig holes or chop wood. Just like The Foolish Old Man in the Chinese parable, I leveled off the whole land inch by inch. Sometimes, in the mountains, I lost my train of thought and did nothing. Completely lost track of the time. Sometimes I whispered toward the mountains not knowing whether it understood me or not.

Finally, we decided to build a lodge! After spending all our savings and a series of twists and turns, we eventually made it. There was originally a pond where many dragonflies flew upon, so we designed the lodge’s shape after them, as a dragonfly. And we called it Stonbo, which combines my last name Stone and the word dragonfly in Japanese, Tonbo.