One of the ways to express lateness in Chinese is with 才 (cái) in Chinese grammar.

Structure
To express that something happened later than expected, you can use 才.
In English this might be expressed with "as late as" or "not until". This form is often used with a time number of some sort, like a specific time, age etc.

Examples

Tā èr shí bā suì cái ná dào jià shǐ zhí zhào .
他 二十八 岁 才 拿到 驾驶执照。
He didn't get his driver's license until he was 28.

Note that verbs following 才 cannot take 了，as the action does not have the sense of being completed. So, in the above situation, it is wrong to say: