"Fishing" and Xixi learns to drive on last evening

Another lazy morning stopped when A Wu pinged me at 11.45am to ask if I wanted to to catch fish in a net, as opposed to "normal" fishing. As it was my last full day I thought "why not?" for the umpteenth time. So I managed to get up at midday and A Wu said he was on his way to pick me up but I said 5-10 minutes. As it was I thought it would be a sweaty affair so I just washed my face and told him I was ready. Then he said to take the dian dong che to his house as people were waiting for me there, and of course to hurry up! Ha, so one minute he's on his way then the next I'm to go to meet him...I almost don't think about it anymore. But the annoying thing was that someone was now in the bathroom where the sun cream was, meaning I couldn't take that and I didn't have a hat either. Damn, but there was no way I was going to get sunburnt the day before we were going back.

So I rode over to his house and as I parked up I heard a bloke call me from a shitty car. Oh, that's what we were supposed to be going in to catch fish. A Wu turned up and we bibbed at him and he looked bemused at the car so we drove up to him and he finally understood we'd be taking this tiny four seater so got in the back with me. We drove five minutes to south of the river and turned up at a dead end. After a few minutes it was clear we were in the wrong place so moved on another minute or so, till the road was so steep us three passengers had to get out to let the driver drive the car up. But we were nearly there and indeed after a bit of a downhill climb during which one bloke slipped and skidded down on his arse for a bit we found a small orange boat by the side of the river.

Whoops - wrong place

No way I was getting into that for two hours

The next half an hour was one of the blokes re-sorting out the large net, while the rest of us were able to drink some water and generally sweat. It was pretty much the hottest day here so far and A Wu then said we should have come in the morning. Well yes if you'd told me before 11.45am maybe we could have. I then told A Wu I would not be getting in the boat and he agreed that the sun was just too vicious. I knew I'd be fried to a crisp, and when finally the other three blokes moved off, using a stick as an oar, I knew I'd made the correct decision. After half an hour of them going to the other side of the river and starting to lay the nets I told A Wu I reckoned they'd be at least another two hours and he agreed. He was happily watching douyin so I said I'd go for a walk.

And indeed I walked into the hamlet past kids playing in the street and hunted the shadows as I felt myself burning within seconds of being in the sun. I made my way to the dual carriageway then moved back as felt I wanted something more cultural. So I found myself in what looked like a shop. A couple of old women who were making aeroplane headsets were looking at me rather intently, but I ignored them and shouted "laoban!" calling for the boss. But no-one was there, even though I could see a couple of Li Quan in the fridge calling to me. I asked at another house next door and they pointed to a house two doors down and I walked in to find another shop with an ancient pool table in the middle that would never see any more cue balls. But at least there was someone there. There was no fridge but a freezer and I asked the bloke if he had a cold beer. Indeed he did so for 5 kuai he dug inside the freezer and picked one out.

Oh it was heaven to have a cold, fizzy, non-sugary drink, and as it was well gone 2pm quite justifiable. He bade me sit by the pool table under the fan and as I opened the can three little girls and a boy came in. They were young enough not to be afraid and delighted in seeing this wai guo ren. So many comments about being tall, having blue eyes and fair hair I've heard before but this was literally the first time they'd seen a foreigner and I indulged them by making them speak a little English and shaking their hands. It was the closest I'd felt to being in Bangxu in 2003 since...well 2003.

Cute kids in the shop with Chairman Mao looking on in the background

The name of the commune I spent a couple of hours in

A Wu called to say he was also leaving that place, and somehow we met up just outside where I had had my beer, and we continued to walk for a few minutes until it was too hot even for him and we found refuge under the shade of some trees. Awl happened to call me and we spoke for a few minutes while avoiding getting burnt. But after 5 minutes we got cut off from Telegram as is often the case. So A Wu and I walked another 10 minutes or so before arriving at the place that is being built south of the bridge where I'd been to the other week to have you cha. By now it was really boiling so we found an estate agent's with a big model of all the houses that were being built, and it looked actually really nice, but at an appropriate price.

We got a didi che to his house where we spent a few minutes until his wife turned up and we went down for me to take my dian dong che and him to take this car. He called Tan to arrange to "sing song" later but I could hear her say she had a cold and a headache, so he called Boss Zhou and arranged to meet up later for a drink. Whatever, Tan had said the family would all be over so I had to go back there to eat. She said to come back by 4pm which I did but of course nothing was ready then. But it was a good chance to get the kids out for a last photoshoot (at least with Leilei) and we did eat at 5pm. Er Jie's husband was there and I genuinely didn't recognise him; he was pretty slim now, and is Qiqi's father so I'm sure I've eaten with him before. Eventually he suggested having a drink with the meal but we only had two Li Quan cans left. No problem that sorted us out till the end of the meal.

Lovely last family meal

Try as I might I'll probably never understand such conversations in Bangxuhua

Haiwei pinged me to go for a bite but I told him I was due to go with A Wu and he should contact him. But at gone 7pm I hadn't heard from A Wu so pinged Haiwei to ask where he was. Well he was just around the corner according to the weizhi, so I turned up at the place and showed the weizhi to an employee and she told me it was opposite, so I went opposite and the person there said it was opposite. So I went opposite again then thought to call Haiwei and indeed he was in the place opposite to where I was now and next door to the place that had just told me opposite. Every time I think I'm used to living here something happens to prove that wrong. But Haiwei came out to see me which was the only way I could be sure where to go, and indeed it was the same place I'd been to a couple of weeks ago to eat beef.

There were only four blokes there so not majorly exciting, but two of them also had Bangxu wives and one was the son of a Bangxu woman, which meant gan bei'ing before descending into cai ma, which I did rather well at. Then a bit later a bloke turned up that I recognised. He was the ex-pilot I'd met four years ago in Bangxu, and had clearly had a couple already. But he was in good spirits and shortly after challenged me to cai ma, which I won to his joking disgust. This followed for another hour before I made my excuses and said I needed to meet up with Xixi. As I was leaving the place I noted the various cow parts in the fridge and told the boss I was impressed that they didn't waste anything. He seemed grateful for my compliment and reached into another fridge to get a bottle of cold water to give to me. I knew better than to return it and gratefully accepted it and said I hoped I'd be back soon.

Beef meal with Haiwei and ex-pilot second from right

They really don't waste anything

Well Xixi had been out with Leilei buying presents but wanted a lesson on the dian dong che. So we took it to Pingguo International hotel carpark, and after a few nerves she mostly got the hang of it but would refuse to move when people were around, but it was a good start. We then had a nice ride around town for the second time this year, and stopped off at the ant tree for old time's sake. On the way back I stopped off at Boss Zhou's where A Wu had been apparently but was no longer. I stayed for 15 minutes that must have seemed longer for Xixi who was bored but in her phone, and I enjoyed the heated up duck and bamboo, before wishing him a heartfelt goodbye, and told him if I could I'd be back later in the month. Even Xixi for some reason said he was one of the people she liked.

Xixi's first time on the dian dong che

So we got back and that was pretty much that. No silly invitations to go out at gone midnight, no silly drinking till 3am. I did take a last walk at 1am just to drink in a last evening of Pingguo, and came back drenched due to the humidity after the rain we'd had all day, and realised that the clothes I'd put out to hang probably wouldn't be dry by the time we had to leave tomorrow. And finally I managed to get a hotel in Guangzhou not too far from the airport. They're all "airport hotels" but at 3.7km away this was one of the closest that would sleep three adults. Well there were two big beds and a sofa so I hope it will be ok. Chuan Chuan could probably have found something cheaper but I wanted to ensure we were not far away as needed to be at the airport for soon after 10am.

As I was doing my packing the boys said they were going for a last ride in town at 2.30am. My reaction would have been to say no, as would Tan's no doubt have been, but I've been in this situation before and clearly would have done the same, so I let them go. I allowed myself one last session on Mario Kart Wii, making sure I invited my other Wiis in England for a reason that will never really make sense, other than ticking off another box in my mind. Then I played a quick race online and managed to come 3rd out of 10 meaning +53 points and above 6000 points again! No-one other than me will ever appreciate that. With not a little sadness I packed up the Wii and hoped it wouldn't be so long before I'd fire it up again. And that was it. A little nightcap or two but sleep happened around 4am.

Last supper 2023?

Quite a subdued day due to both the heat and then the rain that made going out not much of an option, so Tan ordered some crappy chicken burgers for the kids and I made do with a boiled egg and bag of la tiao again. I'd decided to make this a Last Supper evening so after a tiny 30 minutes of siesta following a few lunchtime beers I started pinging my xiong di men and one by one they got back to me to say they would make it, except for Ling Ming who was looking after his wife in hospital. Uncle Yellow said he'd try his best but family might get in the way and of course I said family first.

I went to pick up a couple of beers from the local shop and while there noticed the people I'd sat with three days ago were sitting drinking tea and I felt I'd better go and see them. They welcomed me and said they'd seen me walking past a few times and why hadn't I stopped in? I was honest and said I'd been invited to various places, but sat down to have some lovely tea for the next half an hour before I said I needed to go and anyway they were going out to eat.

Back home I had a quick beer until 8pm rolled around and Beihai Huang told me to start earlier and come round now, but I said I'd told all my mates we'd be there from 9pm. He wanted me earlier and as Mat had fallen asleep in the UK I turned up shortly after 8.30pm and sat with Huang and some other mates for a while. Strangely he was on apple juice with no alcohol, but still insisted on gan bei'ing me with beer. A Wu turned up early pretty much bang on 9pm on his dian dong che, and we sat at Huang's table eating his food for a bit.

Haiwei then turned up and sat with us for a while too. But when a couple more mates turned up we moved to our own table where I'd already ordered portions of prawns, snails, qing cai, razor fish, and my favourite octopus. Then Uncle Yellow turned up, telling me he'd already drunk a load...so much for being with family! I then called Jiefu and he answered and said he'd be around presently...cool, he's one of my favourite people but I never seem to get the chance to see him until the Last Supper. Zhang Hongping, Zhang Hua, Lu zong, Boss Zhou all turned up in the next half an hour and it turned into a really friendly evening out with a few people meeting other people for the first time. Li Kun and his wife turned up at 10.40 to complete the complement. 

Clockwise from left - A Wu, Haiwei, Lu zong, Zhang Hua, Jiefu, Boss Zhou, Zhang Hongping

But I could feel my tummy playing up again and as I was 2 minutes away from home I borrowed A Wu's dian dong che and just made it in time and was back within the promised 15 minutes, but Haiwei had already left it seemed. Well he did seem well-oiled when he turned up in a didi che, as did Zhang Hongping, as did Boss Zhou. Do these people do nothing else than drink and eat of an evening? But all were in good spirits and I managed to order a pot of haixian zhou and another portion of octopus and nearly everything was gone by the time we decided to call it at night at 1am. And for a total of 1000 kuai for four hours with so many people I cannot complain!

Well, that meant going to A Wu's to finish of some beers with his wife, Teacher Lu, and a couple of other friends I didn't know (or remember). The conversation turned to business and they all thought I should really start an English school, despite the fact I'd said the Chinese government was cracking down on such things. No, apparently the rich parents still want their kids to learn English and go to foreign universities. But it was 1.30am, and as much as I like A Wu's wife she kept referring to me as Mis-si-ter Peng (i.e. 3 syllables for "mister") she kept saying how much money I'd make if I set foot on such a venture. I must admit I'm tempted, and would need someone like A Wu to be a middleman between me and the government but I didn't venture to ask the important questions like getting a work visa etc. as it didn't seem the time nor the place. But I would like to pick up this conversation in a completely sober environment.

A Wu gave me a lift home around 2am which he shouldn't have done, and for some reason I managed a chat with Mat and Awl shortly after, meaning I got to sleep and not long before 4am....