中午 Luis 叫我去参加一个活动，本来不想去的。但是看到刚好是 James 组织的活动，之前胡老师一直叫我去蹭饭学英语。一向拒绝的我便答应了 Luis。

一到 James 家我就后悔了，可多人了，一共有快四五十人，鞋子堆满了门口。大家都非常热情和友善，可我面对这种场合就会感觉有些难受。和几个人聊了一会之后，开始吃饭了。吃的非常丰富，也不难吃，意面，汉堡， 水果，沙拉，凉拌粉丝。吃完去楼下参加活动，参加完活动说不祈祷的可以上二楼去了。我坚持要求 Luis 留下，因为我想了解不同的文化。

他们先是一起唱了两首歌，这是我最平静和舒适的环节了。然后有人做演讲，中间一直穿插着一些浅显讨论，我最讨厌的环节。最后分享了几句圣经中的语录就结束了。然后开始上楼吃冰激凌和点心。

吃完就已经非常晚了，我们不得不回家了。Luis 和一个女孩聊着忘记了走，我直接给他把所有的东西拿好带他走了。

As usual, we wandered around the mall for a bit and ended up having Mexican food again. Honestly, it wasn’t very good.

Later, Dr. Zhao prepared a huge spread of dishes and invited two other friends over. After dinner, they were getting ready to watch a movie, but I decided to head home early. I wanted to make a few phone calls and get some rest.

I successfully created a very smooth iPad shortcut. This record was actually added using it!

🕒 01:01 | First Priority

The first thing I want to do is show this shortcut to Huan. I can now clip content from any app directly into Obsidian and record text manually via the notification bar. #shortcut

Today, I roasted a large turkey and four pork legs to prep for the coming days. They turned out pretty well!

🕒 02:00 | Manual Input

Congratulations to me! I’ve figured out how to insert content into Obsidian manually, just like the iPad shortcut.

🕒 03:11 | Good night 🌇

🕒 03:12 | Formatting

Don’t worry about the format for now!! I’ll leave that until the very end.

🕒 16:22 | Freezing Cold

Dr. Zhao messaged me to see if I wanted to go shopping at Southgate Mall. It is freezing today; the wind is so sharp it actually hurts my face.

Before he arrived, I stopped by Dollarama to pick up a spoon and some adhesive tape.

After shopping, we grabbed some drinks at Starbucks. Dr. Zhao recommended that I try the Pink Drink.

🕒 19:23 | Noise Issues

Rui messaged me and wanted to treat me KFC or McDonald’s. It’s hard to order remotely and finally she sent me a red envelope.

I recorded the assignment video in the morning.

10:38 Arrive at Office

I continued to modify my presentation after arriving office.

Today’s group meeting was not bad, and I first time to tell others today is my birthday. I think this is a change to me.

15:39 Go home

I spend two hours on recording again, it’s boring and I felt my eyes painful. So I submitted it hastily. I felt better after that.

Oh, today I treated Amir for a personal pizza, for my birthday. It’s not bad. And then I bought a box of eggs, some pork ribs and a box of blueberries. Huan reimbursed me this bill.
I need to eat more vege and fruit.

Today’s journey was taking bus for three and an half hours, and then spent two hours on Royal Terrel Museum for dinosaur fossils, and then spent ten minutes to take a picture at Horsethief Canyon. It’s a little boring.

I was very tired in the evening.

Meanwhile I was very happy, because I dug a cactus at Badland, but this is a big challenge for me to take care a cactus in Edmonton.

Chatrangha delivered my new clothes to my home. I gave him some hot pot base.

21:14 Aurora

this is the first time day I saw the aurora. It’s beautiful but the light is two much. and I hope I could see aurora at a quiet environment.

I was attending a mindfulness workshop.

It’s snow today, Amir and I were very happy, we took some photos.

13:25 Thank Chat

In the noon, a guy said his friend taught him a Chinese sentence, and asked me wheather know about it.

But that sentence was a dirty and rude one. I told back: fuck you!

Later, I told this thing to my friends, just right the guy came across. Chatrangha called the guy and scold him, and the guy immidiately apologized to me.

16:50 Go to the Concrete class

The Concrete class was really tough, cold, tired, boring, hungry.

逛完之后，又和小欢欢去二香酸汤鱼粉，我们贪婪地加了鱼头、鱼翅、鱼排。

在出租屋简单休息了一下，出发前往盘州。欢欢找小雪帮我拿了护照，我们一起去吃了干锅牛肉，还把在水城市集买的菌子也洗了吃了。

然后一起去欢欢的房子看了看，走路回到欢欢家，已经接近十点钟了。

有点小累的一天。

小欢欢和我睡了懒觉，起来把剩饭热了热吃。家里监控一直提示检测到运动轨迹，点开一看是家里人。突然想回家了，欢欢说那就回家。

开始想着租一个车，虽然不贵，但是加上杂七杂八的保险过路费油费还是很贵。于是突然想到哥哥的车目前是闲置的，应该可以借来。

简单收拾好东西，欢欢把脏的碗筷洗了。我们找哥哥拿到了钥匙，开始了即刻的返程。

经过快三个小时的驾驶，我们终于回到了家中。和小孩玩了玩，妈妈做好了晚饭，我们出去散了散步。

回到家中睡了一个香甜的觉。

下午姚律打电话过来说一起吃饭，我们一起去吃了清水烫。八点过骑车去接小欢欢。这家清水烫同样非常的好吃，只是有点点贵。

而后叫小欢欢先回家，我们又喝酒喝到四点过。

想着飞哥第一次来水城，叫小胖和姚律一起吃个饭。在外面吃饭太贵了，而且不太好好吃。就叫他们到出租屋里面来。

下午和飞哥去买了虾子和花甲，煮了米饭，早上妈妈给买了些排骨。地方实在是太狭小了，吃饭中途在酒小二上面点了两瓶酒，一直喝到半夜才结束。

飞哥带我去吃了豆花饭，吃完后我们到了新的住处，又开始躺下了。

晚上出去吃了烤鱼，非常的撑。飞哥还想在外面逛逛，我热的实在逛不动。打游戏到两点钟。

坐了一夜的火车，上午八点半终于到了重庆。

一下地铁就给我们热坏了，大汗直流。顺着导航找到了慈奥体检中心，一个小时不到便完成了体检。

我们开始寻找吃的，去吃了一家非常热门的豌杂面。还挺好吃的，吃完我们定了一个酒店，就开始去酒店吹空调了。晚上直接去酒店楼下吃了江二娃串串，味道还可以，但是不太卫生。客人上桌没吃完的菜，他们用水洗洗直接放到菜架上了。

简单洗漱后，我们决定去吃文山米线，还是一样的好吃。吃完回到芳芳家，开始准备玩游戏，芳芳大黄去买了好多水果。

然后我们开始玩阿瓦隆，比狼人杀好玩很多。欢欢定了比较早的票，打了个车直接前往昆明南。我和飞哥则晚一些，因为我们要去重庆。

太贪心了，多玩了一把，导致我们没有赶上火车。于是我们改签了，改签到一个小时后的火车。

到重庆刚好早上。

By the time I got up and got ready, it was almost 11 o’clock. Big Huang fried some eggs for us, and I ate a big, hearty bowl. Fully prepared, we headed to IKEA—this was my first time visiting IKEA with Little Huanhuan. We ended up with quite a haul; a cozy room doesn’t actually need to be all that complicated or troublesome.

At IKEA, we even won some free mashed potatoes and ice cream in a lucky draw. Big Huang bought a hotdog, hoping to snag a free tiramisu cake, but unfortunately, that didn’t work out.

After IKEA, Fangfang and Big Huang took us for a massage. The massage place had a nice ambiance, but honestly, I didn’t feel much difference afterward. Then, we took a taxi to meet Lao Sao for some mushroom dishes. Each type of mushroom was quite expensive, but they didn’t taste particularly great—nowhere near as delicious as I remembered.

After dinner, we went to Lao Sao’s rented place, sat around for a bit, and chatted. Time flew by, and we had to hurry to the subway station to catch our train to South Station. Fangfang rode her e-bike to guide us—it was really touching.

Even on the subway, Huanhuan and I couldn’t stop marveling at how lucky I was to have such amazing friends.

By the time we got back to Huanhuan’s place, it was already 10:30 p.m., and her grandpa was there too. After a brief chat, we washed up and went to bed. Maybe because we were exhausted, I slept more soundly than usual.

On our way out, we noticed many unusually large carp and goldfish in the river by the entrance, so we grabbed the net we used for catching crayfish and decided to try our luck at fishing. After having rice noodles with Fangfang, we returned to the river only to find the water had suddenly turned murky, and the fish seemed to have been washed away. We walked along the riverbank and, sure enough, spotted the fish being carried along by the current not too far away.

The fish struggled hard to swim upstream, resisting the force of the river. But the moment they stopped, the current would sweep them away again. In the end, no matter how hard they tried, none of them could escape the relentless flow.

Still, the fish were quite clever—despite our efforts, we didn’t manage to catch a single one. They darted away as soon as they saw us moving.

But the outing wasn’t a total loss. We ended up with a big turtle, a loach (which the turtle later ate at home), and a large snail.

In the afternoon, I went with Huanhuan to Yunnan Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine for her check-up. The doctor advised her to control her weight—haha! After the appointment, we really craved a drink from Mixue Ice Cream & Tea, so we got lemonade and jasmine milk green tea. Seeing how popular the “Green Grape Meat Delight” was, we ordered one too, and it was a unanimous hit!

Then we headed to Metro and bought some hairy crabs to cook at home. Turns out the crabs tasted bitter—another lesson learned. Luckily, the fried potatoes and the crayfish tails Fangfang stir-fried from the supermarket were both delicious.

After Huanhuan finished washing the dishes, we started playing a house-building game and kept at it until past 1 a.m.—way more fun than Monopoly!

Then, I set out on foot to forage for mushrooms in the mountains. At first, I found an entrance to a wooded area, but after just a few steps, I was chased back by a pack of dogs.

Undeterred, I continued searching and followed the navigation until I finally reached a pine forest, where I managed to pick a few small red mushrooms. Unfortunately, I realized I was too late—most had already been picked by others, leaving only poisonous ones or those I wasn’t sure about.

As I walked further, I stumbled upon a row of luxury villas, so extravagant that it felt like I’d stepped into a foreign country. It dawned on me that this mountain was essentially their private backyard. Filled with resentment toward the wealthy, I angrily threw the few small mushrooms I’d gathered, along with the plastic bag, onto the ground.

I kept walking for what felt like ages, only to find that every path seemed blocked by impassable gates. Eventually, I hailed a cab to the Golden Temple, but couldn’t get in from the back entrance. After wandering around for a while longer, I decided to head to the Golden Temple for a stroll.

The history of the Golden Temple is deeply intertwined with Wu Sangui, which only deepened my reflection on how entrenched class divisions have always been.

By evening, the sky suddenly darkened as if rain was imminent. I started making my way back to meet Fangfang and Dahuang for dinner. Just as I met up with Fangfang, it began to drizzle, so we hastily ducked into a roadside restaurant serving pickled mustard green and pork trotter hotpot. The food wasn’t great, but I ate a lot because I was starving. We ordered a small pot priced at 48 yuan but ended up paying 89 yuan—what a rip-off.

Rode my little e-bike and arrived there by 8:30 a.m., even though my appointment was at 9:15. It seemed like arriving early wasn’t exactly appreciated, but they still let me in to queue up.

Then they briefed me, checked my documents, and directed me to a counter. After verifying my details, the staff told me to wait for my number to be called and instructed me to silence my phone and knock before entering when my turn came.

Once inside, I had to read some guidelines, move around in front of the camera, and then do the fingerprinting—which included the odd step of touching my forehead.

On my way back, I passed by Fangfang’s hospital and thought of inviting her for breakfast since she was about to finish her night shift. But she was still busy, so I went alone to have the incredibly delicious rice noodles I’d tried last time.

Got back and called Fei to play games, then took a short nap at noon. In the afternoon, I played games with Fei again, went out for a stroll with Fangfang, and had rice noodles once more.

On the way, we stopped by Metro and were shocked by the absurd prices—it felt like a preview of foreign price tags. We couldn’t bring ourselves to buy much. A small bunch of cilantro cost 13 yuan, which was downright terrifying.

On the way home in the evening, I bought two honeydew melons. My expectations weren’t high, but they turned out to be pretty good.

Spent the rest of the night gaming with Fei until my eyes were blurry, but I managed to help him reach King rank.

Took the bus back to Kunming to prepare for my visa application. After getting off the subway, Da Huang picked me up on his bike.

Then we went to a barbecue stall and had fried rice, oysters, and small yellow croakers.

I slept in this morning, and when I got up, Huanhuan’s mom had cooked congee. I had three bowls and ended up stuffed.

At noon, Huanhuan’s mom prepared a delicious lunch for us, and everything was very tasty. After eating, I played a few rounds of games with Fei Ge, then pulled out my laptop to prepare some materials. Around 1 PM, Huanhuan’s dad went out for a walk, and we rested for a while.

Fengxian’s baby was born this morning. A little after 2 PM, Huanhuan and I went to the office to work overtime. After finishing, we went to buy flowers for her. We saw the first flower shop with two bouquets placed outside, but they didn’t look very fresh. The owner asked for 128, but I bargained down to 88. Huanhuan quickly paid the money.

Just a minute after we left, we spotted another flower shop with much fresher flowers and managed to haggle the price down to 68. So, we decided to take a small loss and return the flowers to the first shop, not wanting the owner to lose out either. But the owner’s attitude turned extremely hostile, completely different from the friendly smile earlier. We argued with the owner and his wife for quite a while, but it didn’t work out.

At that moment, I really wanted to throw the flowers in the owner’s face, but I was afraid of scaring Huanhuan with such an outburst. After cursing a few times, we left and apologized to the owner of the other shop.

A light rain started to fall, and Huanhuan took me to see the unfinished apartment she’s planning to buy. It’s quite nice—once decorated, it should feel very cozy—though it seemed a bit pricey, but still acceptable.

Fengxian was in good spirits and even invited us to stay for dinner as we were leaving. We decided to go home and make fried rice with eggs instead.

I woke up early in the morning, took a shower, put on my suit and dress shoes, and went downstairs with Huanhuan to have breakfast before heading to the exam site. I had thought wearing a suit might make me stand out, but when I arrived, I noticed everyone else was also dressed formally, which put me at ease. I also ran into many younger classmates, who clearly had a fresh, student-like vibe. One junior was struggling to button the top button of his shirt—it was obviously too tight. I reassured him, “It’s fine, you don’t have to button it. It might affect your performance, and the examiners won’t mind. You’ll feel better if you’re more comfortable.”

A-Lin was there too. He had kindly picked up my exam admission ticket for me, and I was very grateful. After performing well in the last interview, I’ve grown increasingly confident. This time, my interview went smoothly—at least I didn’t stutter excessively or feel overly nervous—and I scored 82.33. Initially, I thought it was an average score, but after chatting with others afterward, I realized it was actually quite good.

After the interview, A-Lin and I went to a busy area nearby to grab a bite and relax. There weren’t many options, so we settled for a beef and bean hotpot. Gui’an is truly remote—there wasn’t even a Mixue Ice Cream & Tea shop, which was a bit disappointing.

At noon, Xiaomeiling brought Huanhuan back, and we sat together briefly before accompanying her to have a bowl of noodles. After resting for a bit, we prepared to return to Panzhou.

By the time we reached Panzhou, it was pouring rain. We both got completely drenched—the small umbrella we had was useless against the downpour. Once we got back to our place, we ordered some takeout on our phones. I overestimated my appetite and ordered way too much. Watching those mukbang videos where people eat enormous amounts made me think I could handle more, but in reality, eating just a little extra left me feeling uncomfortable. After eating, I played some video games but was so exhausted that I dozed off without realizing it.

This morning, I had a medical check-up arranged by the Emergency Management Bureau. First, I went to the bureau, where Section Chief Wang from the Personnel Department and another colleague accompanied me to the People’s Hospital for the examination. These two colleagues were quite strict at first but later seemed a bit tired and couldn’t keep up.

After the check-up, I took the bus back by myself—they still had some things to wrap up. When I got back, I had a bowl of beef dumpling skins with some Laba garlic. It was quite tasty and not too pungent.

Sometimes, I really dislike dealing with people, especially those who leave a less-than-favorable impression. Avoiding work or using work time to do other things seems pretty common—maybe everyone does it to some extent.

Heading to Guiyang by Train

Since Xiaohuanhuan’s training ended early today, I changed my train ticket to an earlier high-speed rail. After arriving in Guiyang, I went straight to meet Huanhuan, who said she was getting a massage. After getting off the subway, I followed the navigation to the place, only to find it quite remote, even though it was a newly built building. I felt a bit uneasy—these kinds of places don’t seem very safe. So, I was both worried and a little upset with Huanhuan, and I later told her how I felt.

Grabbing a Bite to Eat

Huanhuan had found a place for snacks, but when we got there, we couldn’t locate it. So, we just picked another random spot nearby. We ordered sour rice noodles, potato wedges, shrimp tarts, and two craft beers. Everything was pretty good, though a bit overpriced. It’s fine for an occasional treat.

Visiting Brother Meng’s Place to Catch Up with Long-Time Friends

As we were nearing the destination, the driver’s phone lost signal due to the many bridges, so we had to take a big detour, delaying us by several minutes. Then, we took a wrong turn, which cost us a few more minutes. When we finally arrived, we found everyone waiting for us to eat. Tingting had prepared a whole table of dishes, all of which were delicious.

We chatted casually over some beer. Spending time with friends is always comfortable and relaxing. Maybe someday, after settling down, I’ll cook them a little something to show off my skills.

Since it was getting late and we were too tired to drink more—plus, I had an interview the next day—we decided to leave for Gui’an around 11 p.m. By the time we got there and finished washing up, it was already quite late.

The Vault folder was a bit messy, especially the Obsidian templates and project folders. Did a quick tidy-up and also added a reading log template to encourage myself to read more.

11:00 Feel pretty good

Today, my body feels fine with no discomfort, which has lifted my mood quite a bit. The courier called to notify me to pick up my ID card. After retrieving it, I strolled to the market and bought rice noodles, spinach, and cilantro. I ended up cooking too much rice noodles and ate until my stomach was bulging.

16:27 Read Zweig’s The Governess and Moonbeam Alley (Abandoned)

The reflection of human nature and the influence of societal norms in The Governess is not just a tragedy of that era. Similar things exist widely in any era. The two kind-hearted little girls might have been versions of ourselves in the past. Our attitude toward the world gradually turns indifferent simply because we’ve witnessed its coldness.

Both the English and Chinese translations of Moonbeam Alley are particularly obscure, and I think they’re poorly translated. I couldn’t get through it at all, so I gave up. That said, I do agree with the idea that factors like money, desire, and indifference can lead love to ruin. It’s not worth reading—whether the Chinese or English version—as it’s just a pile of flowery words.

21:12 Went Out for a Walk and Got a Haircut

The Fun Barber

I really cooked too much rice noodles today, but since I have a medical check-up tomorrow and then need to go to Guiyang, I forced myself to finish it all. Feeling overly full, I decided to go out for a walk and get a haircut along the way.

I figured that for job interviews, one’s appearance and demeanor are quite important. Hairstyle plays a big role in personal image, so even though my hair wasn’t very long, I thought I’d get a trim for the sake of interviews. The barber said the last cut was too short and didn’t look great, so she felt a bit awkward bringing it up, but I actually thought it looked fine. This barber has a great attitude and decent skills.

After the haircut, there were still a lot of loose hairs on my face, so the barber gave me a quick wash. When I asked how much it cost, she said 15 yuan. I said, “Thank you,” and she replied, “No, thank you.” I joked, “Now that my hair’s cut, I’m even more handsome.” She laughed and said, “Hearing your compliment will make my dreams sweet tonight.” Haha, that caught me off guard. Next time, I’ll bring Huanhuan along to get a haircut and introduce them.

The Uncle Who Asked for Help Charging His Car

After the haircut, I walked to the charging station, where an uncle in a worn-out leather jacket stopped me. He said he didn’t know how to charge his car and asked for my help. At first, I scanned the QR code on the public account for a while before realizing it wasn’t working—there was another one on the display screen. Then he asked me to help bind his car model info. He drove a seven-seater Changan van, and when the list popped up, there were way too many options. I randomly picked one, and it worked, so we went with that. He thanked me profusely and even offered me a cigarette, which I declined since I don’t smoke.

Called Fei Ge

Helping others felt pretty good. I thought about visiting my mom, but it was getting late. Then I realized I hadn’t called Fei Ge in a while, so I video-called him directly. Turns out, the job someone promised him fell through, and he’s been lying low in Xiamen for a month. I imagine it must be tough for him.

Around 9 p.m., Huanhuan finished work. I thought chatting with more people might help, so I pulled both of them into a call, completely ignoring their awkwardness. It was pretty fun and also helped Huanhuan integrate better with my circle of friends.

Ledger

Haha, Fei Ge said that while he still has money, I should hurry to Xiamen to visit him. I joked about my usual “Australian lobster” bit, and Fei Ge said he’d budget 10k to treat us—rent a car and take a trip out to sea. I’ll hold him to that for now.