Diary

Today was a lazy day. I didn’t finish watching Justice League in the car yesterday, so I continued and finished it this morning. In the afternoon, I slept in and then got up to study for a while. In the evening, my mom called and said they couldn’t finish the chicken and asked me to come over to eat it so it wouldn’t go to waste. I didn’t really feel like going—I thought it was a bit of a time-waster. It’s not like I could arrive right at mealtime, eat, and then immediately leave. I’d much rather be on my own. ...

I slept quite well last night, without any dreams. 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. ...

Last night, I managed to sleep fairly well, though I went to bed a bit late. Exams really cost a lot of money, especially since hotels turn into a seller’s market during exam periods and inevitably raise their prices. Many hotels have hiked their rates to such an extent that they might as well be publicly shamed on a lamppost. Candidates are truly pitiable—most of them don’t even have stable jobs. The exams themselves are hard enough, and yet they still have to endure being exploited by these people. ...

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. ...

The provincial exam results are out, and I ranked 16th—utterly ridiculous. It feels like the era of Kong Yiji has returned. Due to the poor employment environment, a large number of young people are flocking to civil service exams, creating a vicious cycle. 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. ...

Human laziness is, to some extent, a manifestation of the law of inertia, and it inherently carries significant friction. A person lying down or at rest finds it difficult to maintain a state of continuous forward motion. 00:09 Getting ready for bed Spent most of today watching educational videos and discovered a highly capable teacher with solid values: The Right Path in Public Exams is Full of Vicissitudes. I also found his verbatim notes on interviews, which I’ve reposted on my blog: Verbatim Notes on Interview Insights | The Right Path in Public Exams is Full of Vicissitudes. ...

I said my diary is very similar to the “Progress Reports” written by Charlie, but writing it doesn’t necessarily make one improve. It’s more about observing one’s own life cycle and seeing which stage one is currently in. 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. ...