(1)

Every moment a million thoughts are born, but only one person can write them down — Flaubert

I don’t know Flaubert — Gorky

Get your gay self out of here! — Garfield (“搞你的基” pun on Gorky 高尔基)

Garfield is so vulgar woof — Odie, who got beaten up right after saying this

Writing an epigraph is fine, but don’t stray too far off topic — Chinese teacher

(2)

Speaking of marriage, the time was about a year ago

My dad and I had a sparring match

He gave me the first move:

“Son, have you thought about the issue of marriage?”

I immediately deployed my deep inner energy and threw out a Soaring Dragon’s Regret:

“Dating without marriage as the goal is just messing around!”

My dad, a high school grade director, parried the move with a Mt. Lushan Rising Dragon Strike:

“Can people really see that far ahead in high school?”

I quickly dodged and unleashed a Fishing the Moon from the Sea:

“I think as long as two people have sincere hearts, the result doesn’t really matter”

My dad is cunning and seasoned, used Forty Without Doubt — a move my skill level isn’t enough to deploy…

“I’ve seen plenty, your life experience at your age isn’t enough……”

Just as I was considering whether to counter with “I’ve played more computer games than the TV shows you’ve watched”

My dad suddenly got serious, and unleashed the most powerful spell from Western magic, Expelliarmus:

“Actually, I think the Western approach is pretty scientific. Two people have mutual feelings so they get together, and one day after god knows how long, suddenly because of differing views, wow, they break up peacefully, no big deal. So after many relationships like this, the couple who finally ends up together must be one’s true destined other……”

I really didn’t expect my dad, who married his first love and has been sweetly together with her for twenty-some years, to say something like this

On the spot I had to admit defeat

(3)

Since I was little, I’ve never dared look at the ceiling when lying in bed

Because if I look I feel like why is this ceiling so big

My person is so tiny

Because I’m just so small

There are some things I’ll never compromise with myself on

My life is only a short hundred-some years

I don’t have time to filter and choose

I only have time to wait and hope

When I was little (really little) — I don’t know who set this rule

I always felt that maybe I’d be single my whole life

So I seriously researched how to adopt a child in China

Because I felt not getting married was feasible, but two problems were still very important

One is sexual needs, the second is the question of raising children

Chairman Mao said to do it yourself for a sufficient life, and the internet is so developed now

The first problem isn’t really crucial

The wish to truly raise a child has always tangled around me

But unfortunately unmarried men can only adopt a child after forty at the earliest

(4)

Lately my Chinese language ability has probably regressed to the level of a leech

Hope I can express my meaning accurately

All human wisdom is contained in these two words: wait and hope — The Count of Monte Cristo

A brave heart gives freely, loves freely, until it is wounded — Mother Teresa

(Fin)