Alone

A few days ago, my older brother went to Henan for a university classmate’s wedding. Yesterday afternoon, he called me to share what he had learned, mainly about the cost-effectiveness of studying abroad, the difficulties of studying overseas, the challenges of growing older, and the situation after returning to China. 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. ...

Xiaoyi was coming to Shuicheng today and sent me a message early in the morning saying she was about to arrive. I got up, took a shower, and quickly cooked a bowl of noodles for breakfast. I packed a zongzi (sticky rice dumpling) for her and headed out. Today, we were going to the Emergency Management Bureau for a qualification review. After finishing the review around noon, I took her to try some xiaoguojuan (a local rolled snack) and Yuan Kun’s mutton rice noodles. After that, she returned to Guiyang. On my way home, I bought some waxberries and, upon seeing a vendor selling bamboo shoots, picked up two as well. ...

I stayed up late last night just to tinker with my phone’s TTS and text-to-speech functions. Before I knew it, it was past 1 a.m., and I knew most of the morning would be wasted. Around 8 a.m., the Emergency Management Bureau called for a qualification review, so I quickly cleared my throat and answered. After that, I couldn’t fall back asleep, so I got up, took a shower, did the laundry, and made breakfast. ...

I didn’t accomplish anything today. 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. ...

09:20 Optimizing Diary Information Display Yesterday, I only added the attributes but didn’t have time to implement them. Today, I spent some time making it work and also optimized the style and layout. 09:52 Drew Number 27 for the Interview For the interview at the Energy Bureau, I drew number 27. Being at the very end is quite annoying. 10:13 Studying After a Shower On the Himalaya App, there’s a program called National Centre for the Performing Arts | Listening to Classical Music. The host prepares each episode exceptionally well, even expanding on some stories and knowledge. It’s much better than randomly listening to songs or radio programs—no weird lyrics to make me feel agitated. It also allows me to appreciate the variations in music, preventing me from getting tired of the same genre too quickly. ...

23:48 Shoulders Feel So Sore Another day has come to an end, and I can barely recall what I did today. Let me think: studying, helping Mom with her phone, playing on my phone, sleeping. 23:49 Created a New Templater Template for Callouts I often use callouts in my notes for exercises, notes, tips, and the like. Writing them in native syntax gets tedious, especially with all the switching between Chinese and English. So, I made a Templater template to make it easier. ...

08:32 Got up after playing on my phone for a long time 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. ...