Tuesday, 21 October

Zhang Daoxin(張道行) reported that Commissioner Bao Junhao (保君皜) (son-in-law of Wang Boqun) passed away suddenly in a hostel. I immediately asked the Chief of General Affairs to handle the matter. In the afternoon, I received a call from He Yingqin, saying that he went on his own to see what had happened. He heard that Bao went to the Chinese opera last night and afterwards took a lady with him back to the hostel. But he was found dead the next morning. His lower part was naked and his whole body was dark purple. He was perhaps in a state of yang exhaustion. Bao Junhao had a passion for women his whole life. That he died in such a way was perhaps not bad for him.

I received a telegram from Shao Lizi that the Soviet Union had informed the embassies to move to Kuybyshev (former Samara). Probably the war situation in Moscow must be quite tense. In the evening Wu Guozhen (吳國楨)[1] was invited for dinner. There was a certain Mr. Li (Li Hongzhang’s great grandchild) who was adept at Chinese fortune-telling. I asked him to predict for me. According to him, I was fine this year, and next year would be fine too. But he was afraid that in the second half of next year my “palace for wife”[2] would be no good. My best times would be from fifty-three to fifty-eight years old.  Details of Chinese fortune-telling.  See original.

[1] Wu Guozhen(1903-1984) was a Chinese politician who received his education at Princeton University.

[2] Term of fortune-telling.