Nicholas Quirke was surprised to have an early opportunity to bring his gift of Cu, 醋 vinegar, to Peng’s parents on 19 April 2021. They had taken an active part in recommending place to go in Shanxi and grateful for the advice he bought them an offering. As the last time they had visited they had prepared too much food and out of politeness he ate and ate and ate, Peng had not told his parents that Er Wen was coming.  Once they were out of the station he insisted that Peng inform them of his imminent arrival as if it was him he would be annoyed by the presence of the uninvited guest. It didn’t stop them from whipping up a plate of Vegan Jaozi just for him in the short time it took for them to walk from the station to dinner being on the table. Peng’s aunt Hayyan was visiting from Hailar in Inner Mongolia where he had been invited and if he was given additional time after June he would visit. The food was delicious and he felt greedy but still consumed 27 Jaozi at their insistence. He had work that evening and after their lunch he headed to Chaoyangmen and on the street was confronted with a tortoise tied to a stick he asked  its owner if he could take a photograph. He was obliged and the holder muttered an incomprehensible plea which, he ignored and Peng later translated for him as “Please buy him to eat”. If he had known the poor creature was destined to end up on someone’s dinner plate he may have done something to save him. On his subway journey to Dongsi where he planned to have afternoon tea he became the centre of attention when the couple in front of him started talking to him. He used Google translate and managed to have a talk with everyone surrounding him who joined in the ‘Laowai’ party and by the time he got off they all knew about his circumstances and happy too that he was intending to get vaccinated. He sat and worked in the bookstore enjoyed a green tea and fumed over the failure of his tech. His class was with Jean who looked even cuter than usual in her summer school uniform. The problems with his IPad were so overwhelming that his previous cosmetic attempts to clear up his iCloud were meaningless and he felt such despair that he gave up viewing a movie to work on a seriously savage remedy. There would be no blog until it was sorted and he suspended any posts for a short period of time. He managed despite the gloom that had settled on him to have a deep and satisfying sleep.