This issue's cover: A lonely cat under a streetlight on the way home after working late into the night.
Preface#
Since mid-June, work has become particularly busy as the project entered the delivery phase, often requiring late nights and weekends. Especially after the Dragon Boat Festival, I worked for 14 consecutive days, during which I felt quite dazed—eyes open, working; eyes closed, asleep. As a result, the weekly updates were halted.
This week, the pace has slowed, and my energy for self-reflection is gradually returning, so I will take this opportunity to organize my life over the past month in this journal.
Trip to Shaoxing#
During the Dragon Boat Festival, I met up with a few friends working in Hangzhou and took a trip to Shaoxing. It’s possible to take the subway from Hangzhou to Shaoxing, which takes about an hour on Line 1. I can't help but marvel at the wealth of the Jiangsu-Zhejiang-Shanghai region!
One regret was that visiting the Lu Xun Former Residence required a reservation, and I couldn't get one. However, we did eat at a local time-honored restaurant, experiencing the warm wine and fennel beans that are said to be the same as what Kong Yiji had (the fennel beans were a bit overwhelming).
Shaoxing's yellow wine is also very famous. In my impression, yellow wine is similar to cooking wine, often used in stir-frying. However, in Shaoxing, you will see all kinds of "yellow wine +".
Before leaving, I specifically visited an ancient street with fewer tourists. The traditional architecture of white walls and gray tiles in the Jiangnan water town has always been a style I, as a northerner, greatly admire.
There were many beautiful young ladies there taking photos, dressed in various qipaos and hanfu, blending perfectly with the ancient charm.
Movies#
In June, the 25th Shanghai International Film Festival was held, showcasing many classic domestic and international films. Unfortunately, I was too busy to watch my favorite "The Godfather" series.
The first time I watched the Godfather series was on New Year's Eve during my senior year of high school when I binge-watched all three films. At that time, I downloaded the films from an unknown website, and the experience wasn't great, but the plot deeply attracted me. The themes of American gangster loyalty, family, ambition, darkness, struggle, and brutality made me admire the director and actors of this film. During college, I took an elective course in film art, where the teacher discussed the groundbreaking, artistic, and professional aspects of The Godfather from a film and television perspective. This classic work has always been my top choice in my film collection.
Although I didn't experience the joy of watching The Godfather in a theater, I still managed to catch the last screening of the film festival, watching a documentary titled "The Last Glacier." Emm... it was only a 42-minute film, and it was a rather mundane documentary from the perspective of an explorer. I felt it wasn't worth the 60 yuan price. Compared to the long lines for the blockbuster "The Flash" in the adjacent theater, I felt quite disappointed as I left the screening room.
Conclusion#
I have always pursued a balance between work and life, hoping to give life a little more, a little more time and space to feel the world. Financial freedom may be out of reach, but in this era of extremely fragmented personal lives, it is essential to strive to reclaim the freedom of time and space that belongs to oneself.