Thank you all for your support. I've finished another volume.
I'd narrowly managed to finish it before the New Year. I could take this chance to have a relaxed holiday, but when I thought about all the troublesome things that came with the New Year—how there was no way to rest or shut myself away—I felt a little despairing. What a hassle.
I was no longer that naughty child who could be happy just by stuffing a pocket full of loose firecrackers and throwing them all over the village... It had also been a long time since the lighter in my hand had been used to light firecrackers. I wondered whether it felt like a precious jewel gathering dust, wrongly entrusted to a mediocre master.
Recently, it seemed that heaven had finally decided to punish me for my habit of procrastinating and avoiding things. So many old problems and little troubles had erupted all at once, leaving me at a complete loss.
Sometimes, troubles were just like that—one after another, problem after problem, never-ending, leaving you frazzled and exhausted in both body and mind. The elevator had been broken for five months, and both my legs and the dog's legs had nearly been worn out from walking. My physical condition had also worsened steadily. After my weight rebounded, all my old ailments came by one after another to pay their New Year's visits.
The most agonizing part was the damn dog's condition. Hospitalized, discharged, then hospitalized again, with no sign of improvement. It left me so anxious that I had stomachaches and insomnia.
I used to pride myself on having a heart of stone, cold and detached. Even if heaven and earth shattered, I wouldn't shed a single tear. If the world ended tomorrow, I'd enjoy myself today first. Yet