The unproductive year has finally come to an end.
Christmas Special#
Strictly speaking, the Christmas special should have been included in last week's journal, but I finished writing the journal in the morning, and we had our Christmas dinner at night. So I had to wait until this week to share the pictures.
Actually, there aren't many pictures.
The addition of icing sugar gives it an extra Christmas vibe.
Although it looks a bit strange, it's still cute, right? Right?
A Small Incident#
I used to be a carefree person who never believed that details determined success or failure, but yesterday a small incident made me start to reflect.
I have been living here for almost two or three years, and there are several noodle shops downstairs. Whenever I don't know what to eat, they are my last choice. However, there are differences among noodle shops. Although the prices are similar, one of them has a delicious spicy soup base and better quality plastic bowls for takeout.
At first, the shop was managed by a few middle-aged guys. Because it was open 24 hours, they took turns working, which was very tiring, but the business was still good.
After the pandemic, I didn't go there to eat. When it reopened, the people inside had been replaced by an old lady. The old lady was a bit stingy and gave me less noodles. If I added two more spoons of chili, she would complain. So I didn't really want to go there anymore, especially since a chain noodle shop opened across the street, which had a more refined taste and attracted a lot of customers.
But I didn't like the taste of the chain noodle shop, so most of the time I cooked for myself. In my mind, all the noodle shops were in the negative score range, and the business of this shop was not as good as before. I thought it served them right because they were so stingy.
One night, I really wanted to eat tea eggs, but all the nearby shops were sold out. With my last hope, I walked into their shop, and the old lady had been replaced by an old man. The old man said they didn't have tea eggs, only marbled eggs. So I asked if I could just have a marbled egg. The old man said yes and went to get a disposable cup. I was surprised because I had been rejected all night.
But what really changed my negative opinion of this noodle shop was yesterday.
Yesterday evening, I hadn't eaten dinner yet, so I went out around 8 o'clock. The old man was sitting alone in the shop, and it must have been hard for him to run the shop in the cold winter. If there were customers coming to eat, it wouldn't be so hard.
So I ordered what I used to order, stir-fried shredded pork with black fungus and flat rice noodles with a fried egg. The old man got up from his rocking chair and made the noodles for me. After I paid, I looked around the shop. It was just like a few years ago (this needs to be corrected). Soon, the old man brought out a steaming bowl of noodles, and he even sprinkled a spoonful of beef soup to enhance the flavor. It was a perfect bowl of noodles.
The only thing missing was my fried egg. This kind of thing happened often, and people often forgot to add the extras, let alone the old man. Just as I was about to ask, the old man said he put the egg under the noodles to keep it warm.
I had never thought about it this way, but this detail really warmed my heart. Although I don't eat noodles as often now, I still hope that this shop will do well.
Correction: I later went to this shop to eat noodles and found a "Honesty and Integrity" plaque on the wall that was delivered in August. So I can't say it's the same as before, I just didn't notice it when I went there last time.
Life Under Pressure#
My work is increasingly squeezing my life, and I often feel suffocated. Actually, if I have to say, my job is easier than most people's jobs, but maybe I have been in my comfort zone for too long and suddenly feel uncomfortable. Work is the process of objectifying people, and I should become a capitalist as soon as possible and get rid of the situation of being a worker!
Some Mysticism#
I've been very unlucky recently, so I started to believe in superstitions. For example, as soon as I changed my wallpaper, I had a miserable day. As soon as I changed it back, my work became a little easier.
I wore a Xiaomi bracelet, but it broke shortly after. In TV dramas, when a bracelet breaks, it is said to have taken the disaster for its owner. In modern society, it can also be understood that the bracelet took the disaster for me. In the afternoon, my mom told me she was hit by a car, but she wasn't seriously injured.
I put a Chayan Hao sticker on my phone, and at noon, an old lady blocked the cashier and scolded the cashier (although she was scolding the cashier, the SAN value dropped). In the afternoon, when I went out to the university town to absorb the vitality of college students, I ended up inhaling a lot of exhaust gas (the weather has been really bad recently). In the evening, I stepped on a landmine in a place full of delicious food in the university town. After dinner, my stomach hurt, and I couldn't find a restroom in the subway station. The entrance and exit of the subway station required payment! There was a minimum spending requirement! In the evening, college students were setting off fireworks near the lake, and the air quality was extremely poor (visibility was less than 5 meters) (China's own Silent Hill). As a result, I almost got hit by a car when crossing the road. That's when I tore off the sticker.
When I came back, I asked the cyber fortune teller, and the fortune he gave me was the same as the one I asked before.
Maybe it's not the right time yet. I should patiently wait for my luck to turn around. "Everything should not be rushed."
Everyone Can Write for 5 Minutes#
At first, everyone thought it was just an ordinary fog.
However, the fog didn't dissipate for a long time, and people began to realize that something was unusual. The fog was filled with a suffocating atmosphere, and the lights on the streets appeared dimmer in the fog, as if they were leading people into another world.
Buildings became twisted and eerie, as if they were influenced by some mysterious force. Strange symbols and patterns appeared on the streets.
Some people had difficulty breathing, and others had splitting headaches. They saw inexplicable phenomena and heard chilling sounds. Some people even started to go crazy and lost their sanity.
People began to look for a way out, for escape, for shelter. But the streets, buildings, and crowds started to dissipate in the thick fog, leaving only the fog behind. People gradually realized their insignificance and powerlessness. They began to doubt whether justice and hope truly existed in this world.
They lost their sense of direction, not knowing where to go or where they were.
I wrote this in just 5 minutes. It's too rushed. I envy those who can write a long passage with just a stroke of a pen.
Meeting a Cat on the Way Out#
This cat has eyebrows shaped like the Chinese character "八" (eight), so cute.