I got up bright and early, listened in on the group chat’s puzzle-setting conference, and drove to school for soccer—only to discover that “starts at 11:00” was pronounced “first match at 12:40,” while my team would not play until 1:20. I stormed off to seize a computer at the campus esports center.

At long last, Zhuge Tianyao briefly got his hands on a machine with an i9-14800 and RTX 4080. The students around me: FPS, MOBA, team-based competitive gaming, every stat maxed out. Me: rhythm games. It was all very…

I did try Cyberpunk 2077 and a few other AAA games, but in the end I happily returned to Portal 2 and Hollow Knight. Why am I using hardware like this to play games that already run on my Mac?!

Ahem. If I say any more, I will be beaten tonight. (

During a break between matches, I stopped by the campus clinic to have my throat checked. Years of postnasal drip had finally caused pharyngitis. The doctor prescribed some allergy medicine free of charge and instructed me to take it before bed. Now I have no choice but to sleep early. (Mom: You got sick because staying up late weakened your immune system!)

Medicine in hand, I looked up. Oh no—the semifinal seemed about to begin. I hurried through wind and dust all the way to the indoor basketball court. Yes, we were playing soccer on a basketball court. There were not even throw-ins; you could play one-twos off the walls. Hmm, why does that sound familiar… (See Diary 40.)

But just as I reached the court, I discovered to my horror that my lower back had suddenly begun to hurt, probably because I had rushed over too quickly. After playing the semifinal, I gave the matter a little strategic consideration, took an ice pack, and sat down by the court to rest. In the end, Team Winner tragically failed to be the winner of the final and proudly took second place.

See, I rushed over because I wanted to play in the semifinal, and my reward was being unable to play in the final. Jia Yile was right all along: the detour really is the shortcut. (fog)

That evening, I simply stayed at school for the UTD fellowship run by nearby Enyou Church. The Chinese food was delicious; I ate two bowls. During the gathering, I also spoke with Elder Qiu, whom I had met at Tyler Chinese Baptist Church the week before. Hearing how much the brothers and sisters there cared about me was genuinely moving. I hope that someday I can drive a speaker out there myself and see everyone again.

So yes, that cloud of witnesses truly exists all around me. If that is so, what reason is left to sigh?