Take it easy, sit back and relax
The Maid Is on Summer Break
At the end of June, just three days into her summer break, she took the high-speed train over to hang out with me. We went all over the place, having fun and eating good food.
We even ran into an Emu Otori fan, though my social anxiety kept me from going over to say hi (
I Graduated
Ah, not a single person in our class is from Hefei, yet at 7 p.m. on the 1st, our counselor told us to collect our graduation certificates on the morning of the 2nd. Thankfully, we could still get them on the 6th, so whatever (
I got mine in the end, though. Time to start working (sob
I also did some browsing and grabbed a bite while I was there (HAMA-SUSHI again, anime merch shops again).
My Friend Came Back, But...
She came back on the 15th. I met her at the high-speed rail station and took her home to drop off her luggage, then we went to the mall to play maimai DX. Nothing seemed unusual that day. Everything was perfectly normal, and we had a wonderful time.
We did not have any other plans on the 16th, so I invited her over to my place. It was pretty hot that day, so we decided to wait until evening before heading out to play maimai DX. Even after dinner, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. We went to the mall and played maimai DX for a while, then headed to our respective homes at eight. She walked me to the bus stop and watched me leave. What I never could have imagined was that it would be the last time I ever saw her...
By the afternoon of the 17th, I had sent her messages but received no reply. That evening, word spread in our group chat that she might have died by suicide after taking poison. I was frantic with worry and called the police.
When the police confirmed it, my mind went completely blank. We had been having such a good time just the night before. How could she be gone only a few hours later...
Writing this, I sat frozen in front of my computer for half an hour. I truly did not know how to continue. I do not want to pour out my grief by talking, as some of her other friends have, about how close we were or how much she meant to me. She really was a very important friend, and I blame myself for not looking after her better and not doing enough to intervene...
I have no contact with her parents, either. All I can do is take good care of the gifts she gave me while she was alive and bring them out whenever I miss her...
My Second Climb of Mount Tai
Half a month earlier, I had promised a friend in Tai'an that I would visit him. Then that happened the day before the trip, and I slept for only three hours that night (it was practically more like passing out).
We hit 350 km/h too.
Luckin Coffee from my friend, and of course, Duolingo again.
The next day, it was time to climb. It was cloudy, but the UV was not too strong—perfect hiking weather! So my friend and I made a spur-of-the-moment decision to climb all the way from the Red Gate to the South Gate to Heaven in one go, without taking the bus or cable car.
Halfway up, we reached the Halfway Gate to Heaven. My friend said he had not rested well the night before, so he took the cable car up and waited for us.
After a quick resupply at the Halfway Gate to Heaven, we set off again (I've had it with all you Tomo Ebizuka fans 💥😠).
Onward and upward!
Toward victory.jpg
The Eighteen Bends nearly broke me. They were so steep, and I am afraid of heights on top of that. Thankfully, holding the maid's hand gave me at least a tiny sense of safety.
After all that relentless effort, we finally made it to the South Gate to Heaven.
My hands were still shaking while we took photos. I nearly collapsed on the spot.
The Rest of My Time in Tai'an
After climbing the mountain, my friend treated me to the prettiest of pretty meals.
Thank you so much for the meal. People from Shandong really are incredibly warm and hospitable.
The next day, we went to an internet café—the first one I had ever visited in my life. A 9800X3D + 5080 setup with a 500 Hz 2K ROG monitor, and this is what the three of us used it to play:
All I can say is that we are finished. Our whole lives are already laid out before our eyes.
Then it was finally time to go home. Tai'an is a wonderful place, with beautiful people and beautiful scenery.
Some Personal Thoughts This Month
This month was a wild mix of joy and sorrow, though I feel the sorrow made up most of it. I can only say that I am lucky the maid stayed with me for the entire month. Otherwise, who knows whether I would have had an emotional breakdown.
I did not make it to Chengdu, Hangzhou, the Zhuimeng Rhythm Game Carnival, or Shanghai this month. My plan to meet a whole bunch of online friends in person fell through. Running out of money and having no one to go with were both part of the reason, along with some poor planning on my part. Maybe buying this MacBook also had something to do with it. My pockets had been pretty full, but one MacBook sent me straight back into poverty (well, if I had spent the money on having fun instead, it probably would have disappeared in no time; at least I can use this MacBook for many years, and I did get it at an all-time low price). I still technically have a few thousand yuan to my name, but it is all in non-cash assets like gold and stocks—an emergency reserve I will not touch, no matter what. I was so envious watching my friends meet up in person, go wild at Zhuimeng, and collect autographs. Now the maid has gone home too, and the friend who had planned to spend the rest of summer with me is gone...
All of this feels strangely familiar. It was the same around the Manka Rhythm Game Expo at the end of last year: I was down for a long time, and the maid came to keep me company then too. Am I really that easily swept along by my social life? Sigh. I have not felt like writing articles in recent years, either, and I do not know what to write about. I spent nearly the entire first half of this year running around and meeting online friends in person. I went to Hangzhou alone three or four times—about once a month on average. I have been a little too unproductive. But by now, I can hardly find anything that makes me happy or helps me pull myself together. All I can do is hope my friends come back, and that I can go visit and have fun with them.
My two favorite songs this month:
