Huan told Xue that today is my birthday, and I jokingly asked Xue to give me some money. In the end, Xue actually transferred ¥150 to me. I felt very happy—and Huan was even happier than I was.

I boiled some dumplings for breakfast. Not bad!

Afternoon

On the afternoon, I walked at river valley with Amir. The autumn is very beautiful, but it’s so cold today.

Nice day!

This command is very useful when syncing files between different devices.

15:08 Prepare to go home

In the morning, I went out to practice my English speaking on the lawn. Learning a language by speaking is a useful method. I think I should insist on this way.

At noon, I submitted the Mine 610 assignment to Canvas and sent the concrete assignment to the teacher’s email. I felt a little bit nervous, because I want to get an excellent score, and this is my first assignment in English.

The time in the afternoon is always tiring and boring, so I want to go outside to enjoy the nice weather and the beautiful nature.

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.

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’ve already started anticipating the rejection of my CSC application, looking forward to the stability of starting a regular job. At noon, Yao Dong called me to discuss work-related matters and mentioned that Professor Cai is also planning to study abroad, saying that upon returning, he could supervise Ph.D. students. Later, I came across a video by Geng on Bilibili, where he talked about wanting to pursue a Ph.D. in his 50s. I think it’s a great idea. The current issue is whether our abilities can support us in leading a relatively stable and smooth life.

Today, I also splurged on buying Dwarf Fortress, but the learning curve is so steep that I can barely play it. I also tried Turing Complete, only to realize my brain isn’t sharp enough for it.

In the evening, I went out for another walk with my mom. We walked to People’s Square and back, covering a total distance of about 8 kilometers.

Yesterday, I scheduled a medical check-up for this morning to assess my health condition in advance and avoid any issues with the upcoming pre-employment physical. So I got up early this morning and quickly finished the check-up at the hospital. The main focus was on blood and urine-related indicators, which were conveniently covered by the free check-up offered by JD.com.

After the check-up, I was both thirsty and hungry, and since the free check-up didn’t include a breakfast voucher, I went to Kaihui convenient store across from the medical center and bought a bottle of water and a grilled sausage. Back at my place, I boiled an ear of corn my mom gave me yesterday. The corn lately hasn’t been very sweet—fruit corn seems to taste better.

After eating, I felt a bit drowsy, so I simply lay down in bed to sleep. There’s a contradictory feeling here: I want to sleep, but I’m also afraid of falling asleep because someone always seems to contact me while I’m asleep. Then I end up answering with a groggy voice, which I feel leaves a bad impression. This feeling is definitely not great, and if I don’t fall asleep, my mind starts wandering, leading me to pick up my phone.

In the afternoon, I stir-fried some dried tofu, which turned out quite tasty. Then I went out for a walk. When I reached Minghu Lake, I called my mom and asked if she wanted to come out for a stroll. She said she was downstairs and came to meet me.

Just as she found me, my sister-in-law called and asked her to take my little nephew back home. I could tell my mom really wanted to stay and walk around, but I quickly urged her to go back for dinner.

Today, I also played a couple of rounds of Honor of Kings. This game is really boring without friends. Then I saw that Dwarf Fortress was on sale, discounted by about 10 yuan. I thought about looking into it, and it was quite impressive. Developed over 20 years, it’s extremely challenging and seems fun, but it’s still a bit pricey—even after the discount, it’s 86 yuan, so it requires a bit of resolve. Although there’s a free version, the learning curve is quite steep, and I feel like I might not be able to get into it.

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.

17:39 Finished reading Flowers for Algernon

Yesterday, I read about two-thirds of the book and wrote a letter to Huanhuan: Seeing True Love Is a Difficult Thing.

But after finishing the book, I had more thoughts. I pondered the differences between the same person named Charlie at an IQ of 185 versus 68. I reflected on how society overlooks individual lives and existence, from small things like the purpose of brain surgery to larger issues like various experiments, policies, and wars in society. This world is full of selfish people, and harm caused by selfishness is everywhere. On different scales, each of us could be a victim like Charlie, or we might inadvertently become perpetrators.

As for love, it seems like an elusive thing. Was the love between Charlie and Alice real and eternal? Clearly not. Love requires conditions and capability; otherwise, Charlie wouldn’t have pushed Alice away as he rapidly deteriorated. But perhaps choosing not to love is also a deeper form of love.

And what about Fay? Couldn’t the connection between her and Charlie be called love? Fay saw the charming qualities in Charlie and harbored no ill intentions. Her departure was only because Charlie wanted her to leave. Could it be that the foolish Charlie always adored Alice, while Fay was the partner the intelligent Charlie chose and desired? To answer this, perhaps we need to reverse the question and define precisely what is not love.

19:46 After dinner

I love potatoes stir-fried until golden, with a bit of salt and chili, paired with freshly steamed hot rice and a pot of vegetables. Delicious.

There are too many slapdash operations. Suddenly, many institutions and official sources announced the release of provincial exam rankings, and everyone thought they were really out—but they weren’t. Is it so hard to release the results, or does someone have other ideas?

22:17 Back from a walk with Mom

After dinner today, I called Mom again, and she still wanted to come out for a walk to get familiar with the route. I was feeling particularly lazy, so I called Mom and asked her to come find me along Xiangyang Road, giving her a chance to get more familiar with the area.

Tomorrow, I need to focus on practicing some questions—I have an exam to take this weekend.

Fix

Additionally, a few days ago, I noticed that the back cover of my phone was cracked, so I ordered a new one from Taobao. It arrived today. I couldn’t wait to pick it up from the delivery station. After using a hairdryer to soften the adhesive and cleaning off the residual glue, I replaced it with the new back cover. The result is relatively perfect, though not an absolutely seamless fit.