By leveraging voice-to-text technology, we can speed up the process of writing blogs. Additionally, using voice input to document our lives can also train our brains, making our thinking more logical and enabling us to express ourselves freely. Moving forward, I’ll strive to use voice input daily to record my life.

Domestic software’s Chinese voice recognition technology is indeed much better than foreign alternatives, especially apps like Sogou Input, Baidu Input, and iFlytek Input. This very paragraph was created using Sogou Input’s voice-to-text feature. I’ll try to maintain this method for documenting life in the future, while also reducing pauses in my thinking and improving the fluency of my thoughts.

15:51 Modern Systems Keep Getting Worse with Updates

Today, I spent a long time trying to figure out how to quickly switch input methods via the notification panel. This feature has always existed in previous systems, but after upgrading to HyperOS 2, it disappeared. As a result, switching between input methods—especially third-party ones like WeChat Input—has become extremely cumbersome. Even with full-screen optimization enabled and setting a shortcut key for quick input method switching, it still won’t switch to third-party input methods. It’s incredibly frustrating, and after a lot of effort, I still couldn’t find a solution.

16:46 Temporarily Solved the Input Method Switching Issue

I downloaded a “Keyboard Switch” app and pinned it as a tile in the control center, which now allows for relatively convenient input method switching.

Additionally, voice input seems more convenient with Baidu Input because its voice recognition interface supports commands like “delete” or “enter.” It also has a long-text input capability, but to train my thought fluency, I turned it off and didn’t enable long-text input.

Another concern is privacy with domestic input methods. It’s quite significant—especially when you type certain keywords, and it recommends stickers or other apps. Everything we input is collected by these apps. So, I’d rather trust foreign input methods like Google’s and avoid entering sensitive data with domestic ones.

It’s also necessary to enable MIUI’s secure keyboard, especially when entering passwords or usernames.

22:16 Went for a Walk with Mom and Just Got Back

I unintentionally fell asleep on the bed and woke up feeling groggy, with a very full stomach, so I thought I’d go out for a walk. Just as I stepped out of the community, Mom called and asked if I wanted to join her for a walk. I agreed and went to meet her.

Along the way, I taught her how to shop smarter. She wanted to buy a spray cleaner for the range hood, but I told her it might be cheaper online. To give her firsthand experience, I took her to a physical store to buy it while also checking the price online. Unsurprisingly, the online price was 5 yuan cheaper—and this was just for a 20-yuan item.

I also set up a “Family Card” for her, which gives her a monthly allowance of 300 yuan deducted directly from my Alipay account. Learning to shop online can really save money.

Additionally, I canceled her mobile plan’s 5-yuan “membership” and 2-yuan “Local Friends Network” fees—unaware that she had been paying for them for so many months.

My mom had breakfast with me, and afterward, I took her to the hospital for an ultrasound. The results were quite good—there was no further growth or enlargement. When we arrived at the doctor’s office, we could hear a patient arguing with the doctor, who was recommending surgery.

After the argument finally subsided, it was our turn. The doctor, despite knowing it was benign, still said, “If you’re the nervous type, you might as well remove the thyroid.” That’s clearly not something a doctor should say. No wonder the previous patient was arguing with her—she always seems to push for surgery.

She rambled on with an illogical explanation, leaving my mom confused. I quickly stepped in to clarify: “This is benign. What the doctor means is that we don’t need to do anything about it—just monitor it with regular check-ups. But if you’re going to worry every day about it growing or turning bad, causing constant anxiety, then it might be better to remove it.” That made things a bit clearer.

For conditions that might require surgery, it’s always best to consult multiple doctors. Some really don’t have the best medical ethics.

After returning home, I went to the supermarket to buy some eggs, vermicelli, and clams. I also stopped by the seafood street to get some oysters, planning to cook them and share them with my mom. Unfortunately, the quality this time wasn’t great, and they didn’t taste very good. As usual, my mom started criticizing everything, and I had to scold her again.

In the evening, I played a few rounds of games with Huanhuan and Xiaoxue. Then, as drowsiness set in, I got ready to hit the sack.

In the morning, I watched some English videos for a while and played some games. I steamed and ate the rice cakes I bought yesterday, and then, before I knew it, noon had passed without me realizing what else I had done.

Afternoon

This afternoon, I read Letter from an Unknown Woman. I listened to the audiobook¹ while following along with the English translation I bought on Duozhuayu. The narration of the audiobook was very emotional and captivating, so I finished it quickly. Since I’m not yet very familiar with English, I suspected I might have missed some details. So I searched further, thinking of checking others’ interpretations, and came across this video².

I learned that this novel reflects certain psychological and human nature-related themes. Through AI, I saw keywords like Freud’s “death drive,” which piqued my curiosity. I then delved deeper into the meaning of the death drive and its counterpart, the life drive, which intertwine within human nature, forming intricate psychological and behavioral patterns.

I can’t yet comment on whether the love displayed by the female protagonist in the novel is great, humble, or even real love. I do agree, however, that it is more of a form of self-deception and an escape from both herself and reality.

Evening

Lately, I haven’t had much of an appetite, let alone the motivation to go to the market to buy groceries. For dinner, I casually boiled some noodles and fried two eggs to make do. The eggs ended up burnt and didn’t taste very good.

After finishing the meal and washing the dishes, I thought about going out for a walk. As I approached Zhongshan District No. 2 Primary School, I called my mom to come down and join me. For a while, we couldn’t find each other—the root cause being that I couldn’t understand her directional adverbs like “this side,” “that side,” “up there,” “down there,” “behind,” or “in front.” After finally meeting up, I decided to teach her how to use WeChat’s location-sharing feature. We passed an intersection, and I intentionally walked separately from her, asking her to observe the changes in the avatar’s position on her phone. She seemed to half-understand. At the next intersection, I did the same, telling her to come find me.

After two forks in the road, she still hadn’t found me. I called her to correct her directions, and she finally managed to locate me—though she looked exhausted and impatiently swiped WeChat into the background, returning to her home screen. I then asked her where she wanted to walk, and I followed her lead.

Somewhat expectedly yet unexpectedly, she took a wrong turn and ended up in another residential area, but we corrected it eventually. I think from now on, I’ll just follow her and let her lead the way.

We had a bowl of lamb rice noodles together, then headed to Caojiawan Agricultural and Sideline Products Wholesale Market. Since it was Sunday, the market was bustling with people.

We bought some incredibly delicious loquats and peaches, though the bayberries weren’t great. We also picked up some water spinach and free-range eggs.

In the afternoon, since we couldn’t think of anything else to do, Huanhuan and I took my mom to the zoo. Before setting off, I asked my mom if giraffes were as tall as a house, and she said definitely not. But when we actually saw the giraffe, it was enormous—so, so tall and big.

It was my first time seeing a giraffe too—so incredibly tall and huge. I even bought five yuan’s worth of carrots to feed it. Next time, I’ll bring my own carrots.

Oh, and fun fact—the giraffe’s nickname is also Huanhuan. Haha.

Happy the Giraffe

Happy is a gentle and curious giraffe who lives in the vast grasslands. With her long neck and graceful spots, she stands out among her peers. Every day, she roams the savanna, nibbling on tender leaves from tall trees and gazing at the distant horizon with her big, bright eyes.

Happy loves interacting with other animals, whether it’s playing hide-and-seek with the zebras or sharing stories with the wise old tortoise. Her kindness and cheerfulness make her a beloved friend to all.

One of her favorite pastimes is watching the sunset, painting the sky in hues of orange and pink. As the cool evening breeze rustles through the grass, Happy feels at peace, grateful for another beautiful day in her wild home.

Join Happy on her adventures and discover the wonders of the African savanna through her eyes!

I was already aware of these things, but hearing him reiterate them made me even more anxious.

Last night, when I video-called Huanhuan, I sensed she seemed a bit down. I asked her what was wrong, but she said it was nothing.

This morning, I noticed the date was May 20th. I thought about the electric shaver Huanhuan had bought me a few days ago and remembered I had promised to get her a photo printer. So, I checked on JD.com and saw there was a national subsidy, which brought the price down a bit—though it was still a little expensive at 800 yuan.

I noticed that on Ku’an, there had been a 50% discount coupon during last year’s Double 11, which would have brought the price down to under 400 yuan. Huanhuan thought it wasn’t cost-effective now, so we decided to wait and see if a similar deal comes up later. She told me to cancel the order for now and reconsider later.

In the morning, Xiaoxue contacted me, suggesting I buy Huanhuan flowers, a cake, or milk tea. I felt flowers were a bit awkward—I don’t really see this as a holiday, just something hyped up by businesses and marketing. I wasn’t keen on buying them and didn’t think Huanhuan would like following the trend either. As for cake, Huanhuan does enjoy it, but her acne hasn’t cleared up yet, so I didn’t want her eating sweets.

At noon, while Huanhuan was having lunch with Zou Zou, I ordered milk tea for them. In the afternoon, Huanhuan shared with me about her colleague’s partner and the flowers someone had given her. That’s when I realized Xiaoxue was right—Huanhuan does like receiving gifts or surprises on such occasions.

So, I immediately told Huanhuan I’d buy her a bouquet. I quickly found a nice-looking one on Meituan and added the shop owner on WeChat to ask if they could make it. The owner said they were missing some materials and couldn’t replicate the exact bouquet but could make something similar. I asked what fresh flowers they had, and the owner said I could send a picture of what I liked for them to recreate. I sent one I personally liked, though I wasn’t very confident in the owner’s taste or skills.

Sure enough, when the flowers were done, they didn’t look much like the reference photo. To their credit, the owner was honest and admitted the result wasn’t great, offering a discount and extra flowers next time.

I didn’t reply because improving one’s aesthetic sense isn’t something that happens overnight.

In the evening, my mom asked me to go for a walk. When we reached the stadium, she asked if I had sent Huanhuan a red envelope. I said no, and we ended up discussing the topic of red envelopes. Though it was more of a one-sided conversation, as my mom rarely expresses her opinions openly.

All these things left me feeling down all day. During my evening interview, I couldn’t focus very well. Later, I debated whether to talk to Huanhuan about it. It was clear she had already noticed something was off. After hesitating for a long time, I decided to open up—otherwise, she might lose sleep over guessing what was wrong.

We talked late into the night, sharing our thoughts. I can’t really say which of us was being more mature or rational. Overall, maintaining an open and understanding attitude is the best approach.

I quickly got up, cooked a bowl of noodles, and shared some with Xiaohuanhuan. Then, I prepared the materials for tomorrow’s qualification review while Huanhuan helped me wash the dishes and tidy up neatly.

Before I knew it, it was already noon. We left the house together and took the same bus—she went for an exam, and I headed to the sports center.

Relatives are always so hospitable. I ate a lot of delicious food, and when it was about time, I came back.

The buses in Shuicheng are absolutely ridiculous. The drivers never wait an extra second, not even for someone with mobility issues getting off. Next time someone argues with the driver, I won’t feel any sympathy for them.

After returning, I lay down and rested for half an hour, then went out to print the materials for the qualification review and stopped by the courier station to pick up the razor Huanhuan bought for me.

And just like that, another day passed.

21:48 — Acting Very Impatient Again

Tonight, my mom video-called me and said her phone couldn’t make or receive calls.

I thought of asking her to use QQ’s screen-sharing feature so I could see what was going on. But the process of logging into QQ completely stumped her. No matter how I tried to guide her, she couldn’t get it, and I ended up speaking to her very impatiently the whole time.

Eventually, I gave up. I tried calling her and found that the call went through, and she could call back normally. Then she said my dad’s phone wasn’t working. With extreme impatience, I snapped, “Just try calling back!”

It probably worked, but my mom didn’t call again. I felt pretty guilty. Since it was already late, I’ll call her tomorrow to check in.

Lessons Learned

1. In the future, it might be easier to download Tencent Meeting for my parents.
2. If possible, verifying the issue immediately is a crucial first step.
3. I still need to improve my communication skills and work on my mindset—less hurting others.

22:55 — Optimized the Heatmap

Fixed the issue where intensity=0 wouldn’t display and reset the font to size=7px, weight=500.

Now it looks very aesthetically pleasing. I hope I can keep filling in all the squares.

Heatmap of My Recent Life

Recently, I’ve been trying to visualize my daily routines and habits using a heatmap. This chart clearly shows the distribution of my time and energy over the past few weeks.

The red areas indicate high-intensity activities, such as work and study sessions, while the blue parts represent relaxation or leisure time. I noticed that my productivity peaks in the morning, gradually declining in the afternoon and evening. There are also some blank spots—those are probably days when I was too lazy to record anything.

Looking at this heatmap, I realize I need to better balance work and rest. Maybe I should schedule more breaks or adjust my tasks to match my natural energy fluctuations.

How do you track your daily activities? Do you also use visualization tools? Feel free to share your methods!

From morning until noon, I had an online interview with the Energy Bureau. I had prepared my self-introduction for a long time, but as soon as it started, they went straight to asking me questions, which caught me off guard. It took me a full minute to regain my composure.

I feel like interviews require practice to handle various situations calmly. Still, it was a good experience for me because it highlighted areas where I need improvement.

After the interview, I wanted to lie in bed and rest for a while. Earlier, my dad had asked me to buy a phone for my mom. The delivery driver called around 2 p.m., and since it was a government-subsidized order, I had to go to the Finance Bureau to sign for it in person.

The Redmi Turbo 4 Pro actually feels more premium than my Xiaomi 15, and I ended up playing with it for way too long. I really shouldn’t have…

The carp I bought yesterday turned out terribly cooked, and I felt a bit guilty about it—I had specifically picked the liveliest fish at the store. The tofu from the supermarket was also awful, completely ruining my dish. I ended up separating them, barely managing to finish the fish, and then re-frying the tofu in oil to make it somewhat edible.

After dinner, I took the phone to my mom and spent about an hour setting it up for her before heading back.

It’s already 9:45 p.m. I watched a video by Bi Dao today, which talked about how our lives follow a logarithmic scale. The further we go, the faster time seems to pass. According to the calculations, by the time we’re 18, we’ve already lived half of our perceived lifetime.

Suddenly, I felt a bit panicked—life is already slipping away. How to truly experience and hold onto time might be a topic worth exploring.

Woke up in the morning, took a shower, and tossed my dirty clothes into the washing machine. Sniffed the rice I cooked on Friday night—no weird smell yet—so I stir-fried it with some potatoes and eggs.

09:35 Checked CSC and talent recruitment programs

Time flies—it’s almost mid-May already. Just opened the CSC website, and as expected, no results yet. Then I checked the talent expo website for updates on the talent recruitment progress—same deal, not even an interview notice.

Started feeling anxious again, unsure of what to do next.

QQ Music recommended a song called “Don’t Panic, There’s Moonlight After Sunset.” The singer moaned lyrics like:

Don’t be lost~
Don’t panic~
……
Don’t waver~
Don’t be disheartened~

It genuinely annoyed me. These verb-object structures made up entirely of negative words—if you just listen to it as background music, all you hear is don’t, lost, panic, disheartened, be lost, and so on. For someone who isn’t lost, panicked, wavering, or disheartened, it might not seem off. But for someone actually feeling those emotions, it’s nothing but irritating.

21:36 Streetlight landmarks

Made a cold-tossed lettuce and stir-fried cabbage for dinner—ate too much. Decided to go for a walk and called my mom while on Kang Le Road to ask if she wanted to join. She said sure.

Ended up lecturing her the whole evening. At first, I pointed out the municipal government bus stop to her. She studied it carefully and said she could use the nearby postal newsstand as a landmark. I said those things are everywhere. Then she suggested using a forked roadside tree as a marker.

I said, “There are so many trees—you might as well use the streetlights as landmarks.” Of course, I was being sarcastic, but she took it seriously and started taking photos of the lampposts with her phone.

I was torn between laughing and facepalming. I said, “What about the China Agricultural Development Bank right there?” Then I explained that landmarks should be things like malls, schools, hospitals, or intersections.

22:01 Buying mangoes

I’d been wanting to buy some mangoes since yesterday, but my mom said they weren’t good—the ones with a bit of red on the skin taste better. When we passed by the fruit stand earlier, I almost bought some but held back, afraid she’d nag me.

After passing the stadium, I saw another vendor with a cart selling mangoes. They weren’t expensive and looked fresh, so I decided to buy a few. As soon as I asked the vendor, my mom predictably started up: “These don’t taste good, why waste money,” blah blah blah…

It really got on my nerves. I bought them anyway, and after walking a bit, I started lecturing her. I said, “I just want to eat them now. They’re not expensive, and I’m not buying a ton. Do you have to keep nagging?”

Then I took one out of the bag and handed it to her. “Try it. Is it really that bad? Is it worth the price?”
She stopped talking after that.

Later, I told Huanhuan about it, and she said I sometimes do the same—judging her based on my own experiences and opinions. I thought about it, and she’s right.

Dicos recently launched a new menu item: chili oil chicken drumsticks. It left me feeling greasy all day—never pour oil over fried food!!!

For dinner, we had the corn Xiaoxue brought us at noon. After eating, I called my mom and asked her to come out for a walk. I suggested she take the bus, but she was still a bit hesitant, maybe because she thought spending two yuan was a waste of money, so she walked to meet me instead. On the way, we bought some hawthorn balls. When she saw the sugar coating on them, she thought it was ice and said it was too cold, which made the shop assistant laugh. She told me she had never eaten hawthorn before and hadn’t even seen it.

We passed by a SANFU store, so I took her inside to look around. She wanted to buy a hair tie, tried a few, but ultimately didn’t buy anything. Later, we went to a small goods supermarket, but the quality of the items there wasn’t great, and the prices were quite high. She initially wanted to pick up a hair clip, but I told her it didn’t look very nice and wasn’t comfortable, so we decided to check other stores later.

Huanhuan suggested that we could take pictures of the products and buy them online—for the same price, we could get a whole bunch.

I’ll look into it.

The produce there is quite fresh, mostly grown by the sellers themselves. I bought some blueberries for my mom, and for myself, I picked up some greens, tofu, bamboo shoots, and tomatoes. I’ve got more vegetables than I can finish.

Running into things I don’t quite understand always leaves me feeling a bit frustrated, but I just let it be. Time flies—it’s already been a week into May, and the results of the CSC application will be out soon. Lately, people keep asking me about the outcome, but I don’t really want to dwell on it. Whether I pass or fail, it’ll bring its own set of troubles.

My mom has been wanting to learn how to take the bus. In the evening, I called and asked if she’d like to come out so I could teach her. She agreed. I showed her how to read the bus stop signs and demonstrated how to use the map on her phone. Finally, we took Bus No. 3 to the Maternal and Child Health Hospital, got off, and walked to People’s Square. There, we saw a group learning to dance, so I took her over to watch. She seemed curious but kept saying to herself that she was too clumsy and not flexible enough. I told her everyone starts learning at this age. After standing there for a while, she began mimicking the steps. I encouraged her to join in, and to my surprise, she really let loose and started dancing.

But the lesson was almost over, and soon the real music started for the group to dance along. She danced for a bit before coming back to me, saying she couldn’t keep up. I told her to just go and dance freely. After a while, she came back again, and I said, “Just keep dancing randomly for a few months, and you’ll pick it up.”

Then I asked her to navigate us to the Telecom Building to take Bus No. 4 back. She still struggles to grasp the methods and logic behind it—her lack of spatial awareness is a big hurdle.

The ability to immediately notice impatience in oneself is often a sign of patience.

This morning, Huanhuan’s dad came back while we were still sleeping in. After getting up, I washed my hair, and Huanhuan’s dad went out to buy groceries. At noon, I tried stir-frying pork liver for the first time—it tasted a bit odd, but Huanhuan’s dad thought it was quite delicious.

In the afternoon, I went to Huanhuan’s office to wait for her while she worked on her speech draft. After she finished, she bought me some cakes, and then we went to eat Luosifen (river snail rice noodles). It didn’t taste as good as before.

Time flew by quickly. After the meal, Huanhuan rode her bike to drop me off at the bus stop. When I arrived in Shuicheng, I called my mom and asked if she wanted to come for a walk. If she did, I told her to meet me directly.

I found a bench near People’s Square and sat down to play on my phone. Lately, my mom has seemed somewhat adjusted—or maybe not. Either way, we still don’t get along very comfortably.

I completely agree with what Huanhuan said: people need validation. Mom used to do everything well back in our hometown. But after coming here, she’s only left with cooking and taking care of the kids. However, these two tasks haven’t received any recognition, which makes her feel very frustrated. I think I should take some time to talk to my brother about this—to be more patient in teaching Mom and to communicate with my sister-in-law. I believe we can reach a comfortable state, but if we ignore it, things might get worse.

Today is my mother’s birthday. At noon, I bought her two small cakes.

In the evening, I took my mother for a walk around the neighborhood. She still seems a bit confused about directions and roads—perhaps she needs to walk the route a few more times. My parents and I don’t have deep conversations; we rarely talk about anything beyond daily life.

Today, I said to my mother, “You’re 57 now, huh?”
“Just turned 56,” she replied.
“Is there anything you’d like to do? Or any place you’d like to go?”
“What kind of place would I want to go to…?” After a few seconds of thought, she continued, “There isn’t.”

My mother has devoted her entire life to our family—you could say she’s spent her life battling this difficult world. She’s timid, afraid of many things, afraid of dealing with people, even afraid of arguing with us. Yet, she constantly wrestles with herself internally. I often lose patience with her over these things, urging her to pay attention to her own feelings. I don’t know if it helps.

Let me talk about something else.

I really dislike conversations that revolve around money, houses, and the like—who has money, how much a house costs, how big it is, where it’s bought. Of course, it’s not because I don’t have these things myself at the moment, but rather because the attitude people have toward them disgusts me.

I don’t deny the importance of wealth in our lives—it helps us realize our personal value. What I despise are these twisted values, where many treat money as a label. Expensive items are automatically considered good, healthy, and high-quality; wealthy people are seen as hardworking, capable, and ambitious—exactly what they aspire to be. I’ve never heard them discuss who doesn’t have money or the underlying essence of these phenomena when they talk about who does.

If the only things left to discuss in life are these, I’d rather not participate in the conversation at all.

There is never anything wrong with making money, and I will always dislike those who treat money as an end in itself and use it to measure the value of life.