Cantonese People, Go to Changsha for a Weekend Trip!
The four fairies' trip to Changsha began with my words: 'I really want to have fun!' A spontaneous decision! We agreed on a weekend when all four of us were free, and set off from different corners of the country to gather in Changsha for a four-person weekend getaway. Boss Dai from Beijing, Teacher Li from Kunming, Baby Zhuo from Shanghai, and Liao from Guangdong. For this, I took half a day off on Friday afternoon. So starting from Wednesday and Thursday, I frantically caught up on a week's worth of work—on Thursday alone, I finished a comic script and a proposal. My efficiency was extremely high; under normal circumstances, I estimate that workload would have taken me two or three days. To have peace of mind for the trip, I can really burst with productivity. Now, let me sort out this trip to Changsha in detail.
// Friday //
On Thursday night, I packed for the Changsha trip. Originally I put together a JK-style outfit for Saturday's trip to Yuelu Mountain and Orange Isle. But then I checked the Changsha weather and saw that Saturday would have a big temperature drop. After much deliberation, I put the JK outfit back. Honestly, I don't even like the JK style. The day I tried on the clothes, when I put on the JK outfit, I couldn't even look at myself in the mirror—it was too much of me trying to look younger. My friends don't like JK style either. But I want to try every style, just to capture different versions of myself in photos. So, JK style will have to wait for next time.
On Friday at noon, I headed straight from the office with my luggage. On the bumpy high-speed train, I spent an hour and a half putting on makeup. The reason it took so long was that the young guy sitting next to me was working on his laptop the whole time. I peeked at his documents; he’s a tech guy, somewhat handsome. So while doing my makeup, I kept sneaking glances at him, and I also noticed he seemed to work at the Jihua Laboratory. I inexplicably have a soft spot for tech people—although I don't understand all the technical terms, they somehow feel very sexy. Sneaking peeks all the way, time flew by. At 5 PM I arrived in Changsha. I rushed via metro to the homestay and met up with the girls.
Our homestay was near Wuyi Square, right in the center, making it convenient to go anywhere. Just in time for dinner, we headed straight to the commercial pedestrian street and first grabbed a cup of Sexy Tea. The first cup of Sexy Tea is usually the Youlan Latte. Over the next two days, we tried various flavors of milk tea, but always felt the first Youlan Latte was the best.
While waiting for our number at the restaurant, we bought some stinky tofu... It was really spicy, burning my stomach. I think it was the spiciest thing we ate during those two days in Changsha.
The fairies couldn't stop taking photos... Compared to such posed shots (especially Liao, who always acts very 'pretentious' in front of the camera), I prefer natural candid shots like these because they tell a story. For example, the one below: the story behind it is that Liao was attracted by a street performer, went to take a photo, then scanned a WeChat code to tip 8.8 yuan...
After dinner, we went to the supermarket to buy alcohol. Behind such beautiful photos, there is always a photographer who sacrifices their own image—'Squat lower, lower, angle more upward...' We bought plum wine and 8% ABV RIO, all light, refreshing, and sweet drinks. Baby Zhuo, while drinking at night, said: 'This wine doesn't taste like anything...' In the end, she was dizzy and tipsy for two days—'Little one, such a low alcohol tolerance.'
// Saturday //
Early Saturday morning, Boss Dai ordered 'suo fen' (rice noodle soup) delivery for us. Delicious! After the noodles, we set off for Orange Isle. Saturday's Changsha was a bit chilly with occasional drizzle. We took the little train to the statue of Chairman Mao. There were so many tourists in front of the statue. We squeezed through the crowd and still managed to take quite a few photos. Then we strolled along the riverbank. Liao is really someone who stiffens in front of the camera; this riverside photo looks utterly awkward all over... (But this isn’t the most exaggerated; some poses were so stiff that we burst out laughing.)
In the afternoon, we went to that famous internet-famous wall. There was a long queue for photos, but the results with filters were pretty good. This one is completely raw without any filter. Look at me taking photos like crazy—when I opened my phone gallery, the screen was full of the word 'Changsha', which made me laugh. At Super Wenheyou, there were so many people we didn't bother queuing to eat there. We just walked around, took some photos, and left.
In the evening, Boss Dai’s friend treated us girls to dinner. A perfect day ended!!! Also, we had registered as Sexy Tea members in advance and set our birthday as that day, so we got a free cup of Sexy Tea. Getting freebies without paying is the best joy.
// Sunday //
Early Sunday morning, we went to Yuelu Mountain. Riding the cable car up was actually quite scary; the mountain wind was cold and biting, the cable car was open, and looking down from high up made my legs feel weak. After coming down, we had neither the energy nor time to visit Yuelu Academy. We went back to the homestay to pack and check out. At noon, we went to another commercial pedestrian street to eat BBQ, and of course, had another cup of Sexy Tea. Counting it up, over the two-day Changsha trip, I downed five cups of milk tea.
Girls from all over the country, each heading back home, we took one last group photo. Traveling with you all is so worry-free and happy: itinerary, arrangements, paying... I don't have to worry about anything; I just follow along. And you don't mind my photo-taking frenzy, nor do you blame me for often focusing only on myself and not caring about your expressions when I snap. For me, it doesn't matter where we travel—the beauty of the people is more important than the scenery. And making people look beautiful depends on the people themselves, plus striking poses, and beauty cameras. So, when it comes to traveling, you can call me anytime; I like anywhere. Changsha, for instance, is very suitable for a weekend trip from Guangdong: arrive Friday night, return Sunday night, nothing is delayed. This time in Changsha, I noticed there were so many tourists from Guangdong—I could hear Cantonese being spoken everywhere.
// Post-travel syndrome //
When I was about to leave on Sunday, I glanced at the transportation from Changsha to Yueyang and found it was only a few tens of yuan for the high-speed train, half an hour away. I almost wanted to ask my boss for more leave to go check out Yueyang Tower and Dongting Lake. After much hesitation, I decided to honestly go back to work. If every time I go out to play, I can't bring myself back, how can that work?
Travel, travel, I never get enough of it. These past few days, I've felt so empty and lonely. No new faces or new things around me. Life is mundane and utterly boring. When life gets boring, I start acting up. I am a very dramatic person, often directing and acting out a whole bunch of scenes by myself. For example, last night when I was rearranging the walk-in closet for winter and summer clothes, I suddenly got more and more angry: 'The house is too small, my husband's and son's clothes take up so much space, if I were single, the whole closet would be mine, and I wouldn't have to switch between seasons...' So my inner drama grew and grew, and the angrier I got. My husband, who was sitting in the living room doing nothing and saying nothing, somehow triggered me for no reason... Then I started a totally groundless quarrel. Of course, my husband couldn't understand why I was angry and started to argue with me. And as soon as he argued, I immediately felt justified—'You're yelling at me!' Then, with my tear ducts ready to burst at any moment... A real drama queen...
My friend said I need to communicate more. I retorted that it's useless—the difference between men and women is too great: 'If I tell you, you won't understand; if you understand, you won't do it; if you do it, you won't do it well.' But at the same time, I'm actually a very easily satisfied person—just keep taking me out to play, it doesn't have to be great mountains and rivers, a small amusement park or some internet-famous spot will do, anywhere, as long as you always make me look beautiful in photos.
I don't mean to stir up gender opposition, but Yang Li's words really hit home for me. Sometimes I think: in my lifetime, I will definitely see the collapse of the institution of marriage. Men and women are such different species—why are they tied together by marriage? My friends always say I make them fear marriage. Well, my current state is indeed a bit extreme. I can't even sincerely bless newlyweds. Marriage requires management. For girls, if you are not dramatic, not mean, not unreasonable, and willing to change and compromise for the other person, then get married. But if you want to keep some of your true self—unruly and freedom-loving—if you can't find a man who unconditionally tolerates you, then it's better to stay single and fool around the world. As for me, I'm the ultimate example of the latter. Can't help it.
