6:42 AM, November 13, 2006

I woke up again before 4 a.m. The whole city was still deep in sleep, leaving a tranquility that is scarce in the day time. I am the few ones that have the chance to admire the night without having to worry about the 6 a.m. alarm. Now the silver thread at the end of the sky turns into a larger and large sash, more and more lights are turned on, the car starts to honk again, and the machine starts to run for another day.
After six year apart, mom cried when seeing me in the airport. I was warned by Wang De that their aging has accelerated, however it is still pains me to see the efforts mom is exerting when pending over, and the amount of pills dad has to take before and after each meal to treat the illness in many parts of his body. They are only in their sixties, it shouldn’t been like this yet.
Never felt so spoiled by them before. They took me to a restaurant for breakfast, ordered everything I haven't had in the past six years. Then we walked to Yaxiu, one of the many markets that are rented to small kiosks. They bought me a coat, two big scarves, and three shirts. I knew one should bargain at this kind of places, but still felt the vendors were ripped of by us when mom slashed the prices off by more than half and the sales assistant pleaded to her by telling us how hard it is to make a profit. Most of them are young country girls try to survive in this ruthless city.
Last night dad took out a mid-size suit case full of the clothes I worn years ago. Knowing there won’t be anything I will like, I went through it just to please them. And voila, there are the pictures of my university years.