Exam

Perhaps it was because I had been drinking, but I had trouble falling asleep last night. Combined with the sound of people drinking outside, I barely slept at all. 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.” ...

I haven’t woken up early in a long time, but today I had to because I was attending an interview at the Material Support Center in the morning. Strictly speaking, this was my second structured interview. The first one was when I took the civil service selection exam in Anshun before graduating. Back then, I didn’t prepare seriously—I just watched a few videos to get familiar with the interview process. Naturally, the lack of preparation led to failure, though I was surprised to have made it to the interview stage with a completely unprepared written test. ...

After sharing my emotionally draining thoughts with Huanhuan last night, I felt much calmer today. Recently, I’ve started leaning toward hoping that the CSC (China Scholarship Council) will reject my funding application. There are two main reasons for this: First, I can already foresee that the next few years abroad would likely be quite painful, and because of this, the prolonged lack of a stable job has been weighing on me for a long time. Second, I’ve begun to fear the prospect of long-term separation from my loved ones, family, and friends. ...

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 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. ...

12:13 A fairly focused morning of studying Summer has arrived, and the temperature is no longer a major obstacle to getting out of bed. I’ve also been less inclined to laze around in the mornings compared to before. Originally, I wanted to find a desktop timer app to help plan study and rest periods. On GitHub, I came across ClassIsland, a project that even includes a class schedule feature, making me feel like I’ve returned to my student days. ...

Tomorrow, I have an exam in Guiyang for a public institution under the Department of Transportation, so today I’m rushing to catch a bus to Guiyang. As I left the house, I overheard two kids talking. One of them said: When I was little, I thought if a mouse got sick, it should take rat poison. Exams are truly expensive, especially since hotels turn into a seller’s market whenever there’s an exam—price hikes are inevitable. Many hotels have raised their rates so much that they practically deserve to be publicly shamed on utility poles. ...