Diary

After the Grain Rain, the rain follows the solar term as expected. Last night, the rain was heavy, and I was awakened by the sound of it at 2 a.m. My mind conjured images of floods raging outside, the building I was in swaying precariously in the deluge, and before I knew it, I fell back asleep. This morning, I took a shower and started studying. I’ve come to appreciate the phrase “Stillness begets wisdom” even more—only in stillness can one observe and reflect, complete the learning process, and gain wisdom. ...

12:32 Just Made the Best Scrambled Eggs with Tomatoes Ingredients: One tomato, two eggs. Additional ingredients: Ginger, garlic leaves, small chili peppers, water. Steps as follows: After heating the pan, add slightly more oil than usual for stir-frying. Beat the eggs, and once the oil is hot, pour them in. When most of the eggs have set, start stirring to help the uncooked parts come into contact with the hot oil. Remove the eggs just before they start to turn golden brown. There should still be a small amount of oil left in the pan. Once the oil is hot again, add minced ginger. Dice the tomato and add it to the pan, stir-frying over low heat. Occasionally press the tomato with a spatula to release its juices, adding a pinch of salt to speed up the process and a splash of soy sauce for extra moisture. Once the tomato in the pan has turned into a paste but still retains some diced pieces, add about 1.5 eggshells’ worth of water. Continue stir-frying over low heat for about 2 minutes, then add the small chili peppers. Turn the heat up to high, add the scrambled eggs back in, and stir-fry until evenly mixed. Turn off the heat, sprinkle with garlic leaves, and stir-fry to combine. Serve. The result is melt-in-your-mouth, fragrant, and tender scrambled eggs with tomatoes. ...

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. ...

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. ...