By February 2021, the pandemic still hadn't lifted. What had changed was how people carried it. The fear from the beginning had settled into habit, and daily life kept moving in an orderly way. Living in Shanghai, I felt genuinely proud of how the city handled prevention and control. I remember that in January, it took only two days from finding an infected person to putting the relevant area under quarantine. Since then there had been no new local cases. I still want to say thanks to everyone who worked on the front lines.
On the personal side, this was also my first Spring Festival after getting married. I'm especially grateful to my wife. Over the past year she has taught me a lot, and she has also lost her temper with me more than once. I still love her deeply.
The argument on February 14 is worth writing down. That day she made egg tarts and brought them over behind me to show me. I was in the middle of a tense game and didn't respond. She started to get angry. The more she talked, the more I couldn't keep my own temper down, and we had a big fight. I pushed the door hard into the wall, and then I hit the table over and over, almost as if I were punishing myself. At the time it felt like the table might split. After I stopped, I knew the habit of hitting and smashing things was bad, but once my temper rose it was really hard to control. I admitted I was wrong right away, and my wife forgave me.
I should imagine what it feels like to speak to someone and get no answer at all. And this is the person who will stay with me for the rest of my life, who will be forgiving with me, who will love me for a lifetime. I should become a better person.
There was happiness too. My wife gave me a gift I had been thinking about for a long time: an Apple Watch. Because of work it's not convenient to wear a watch—it can get in the way when I'm working, so I had been considering it for ages and never bought one. I didn't expect happiness to arrive so suddenly. I was really happy.
For the new year, I want to work harder, take on more responsibility, and be better.