Ireland/China 2025, continuing (45)

[aadler]

Thirty-fifth day in China – July 25 Friday

I got up sometime around 7:30, I think, responding to Susan’s movements. Breakfast and relaxation.

For lunch we went out to a place just around the corner. It turned out to be the same Szechuan restaurant where we ate two years ago: the one that, when we tried to say, “No spice,” told us that the majority of their menu was Szechuan-spiced. We managed to get our point across, and they served me something that didn’t make my lips burn too much, and Susan something that was fine by her. I was a little disgruntled by my dish, as Chinese seem to like serving cuts of meat that apparently use a high-speed saw to cut straight through bones and joints so that the individual pieces of meat are interpenetrated by sizeable bone splinters; mine required that I eat with my fingers to gnaw the meat away from the bone shards, and in a lot of pieces there was more bone than meat. At the end, however, the manager came out to greet us; he’d recognized us from our visit two years before because Kevin was with us then and he’s stopped by several times since that time, and the manager said he’d given us an 80% discount based on our son being such a good customer.

Following lunch, I put some time into the Buffyfic I’ve been working on for Amber’s birthday. Nearly to 4,000 words now.

Based on Mei‑li’s suggestion yesterday, we contacted her today about visiting, and it was agreed that’d we’d be there around 5:30PM. We did so, and — unlike most of the last week — we didn’t need to worry in the least about rain. However, Ruby was nursing when I arrived … and continued to do so for the next 45 minutes, so that Susan could be in the bedroom with mother and baby, but I wasn’t allowed. Vexing.

We transitioned over to the Yins’ for dinner. Amber was there, but we’d been told in advance that Kevin wouldn’t be able to come in because of the hours he was working. This being so, we left pretty much as soon as we’d finished eating. (Doesn’t feel polite, but let’s face it, we can’t really talk with our hosts, except Amber herself.)

Evening Rosary, reading and other pastimes. Susan went to bed early, but I kept reading till I was likewise ready for bed.