2024-02-10 #1

A selection of photos from the past year (1/2)

1. New Year’s Eve dinner for the Year of the Rabbit, serving as the end of the Year of the Tiger and the beginning of the Year of the Rabbit.

2. The last photo of Succulent and Grape. The universe is vast; we may never meet again.

3. A group of wild ducks under the early spring sunset. After this day, my life would undergo a huge change.

4. A candid shot from the playground. I love this photo because it captures a natural expression; I used it as my crew avatar for a long time.

5. On Children’s Day (June 1st), I went to McDonald’s and was given a tiny cute ice cream cone. I was sick those days—I don’t know if it was a second COVID infection—but I had a great appetite and binge-watched Re:Zero in one go. A rare break.

6. A Cheng, whom I hadn’t seen for five years since graduation, returned to China and stayed at my place in Shanghai for two days and one night. Now that I’m keen on mixing friends who don’t know each other, I invited Ms. Jing over. We stayed up all night watching anime, and at dawn the next day, we rented a car and drove A Cheng to Pudong Airport, dozens of kilometers away. I hadn’t cut my hair in nine months—that was the peak of my hair length. (I originally wanted to look like Joe Odagiri, but almost ended up looking like Professor Gao Xiaosong, so I cut it.)

7. A random night shot of my desk. The screensaver randomly showed a nebula, and I thought it looked great.

8. After several years, I went back to my alma mater, even sneaked into my old dorm, and finally saw a kid at the library entrance who looked and acted just like Chen Shen.

9. My usual workout is cycling 18 kilometers to a nearby park. More than exercise, sometimes I need an emotional outlet. After pedaling hard for several kilometers, I’d reach this bridge, see the bright moon and sparse stars, and burst into tears.

• 📓 My Year in Review