Round House

Wednesday, 7 February

New Year’s Eve, Ji Mao year

At six o’clock in the afternoon, Sun Fo invited Yang Shukan and others to have dinner at home. At 8.30 I went to Li Dugong’s place with Deng Zhaoyin because Li and Zhou Yanmin and others were celebrating my birthday there in advance. Jiang Fangling, Min, Ma, Li and Liu all came to the celebration. We had a really good time. As it was already too late they certainly could not go back to the dormitories and for me it was also impossible to return to the Round House, and as it was New Year’s Eve there was no available car or sedan. So people suggested we should play a card game. It ended the next morning. In the past ten-odd years I have never stayed up all night without sleeping so I felt quite tired. But Deng Zhaoyin, Sun Qian, Yang Huari, Yukun, Zhou Yanmin, Li Dugong all accompanied me, so I had to stay on. Over the past few years I have been in economic difficulty so I have felt uneasy about Chinese New Year. Only during tonight did I feel better spiritually. Firstly, it was because many friends were there, and secondly, it was because national affairs are making progress. Though my personal economic situation is still difficult, I can put it aside for a while.