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XL sat next to me on the bus this morning. it seems she only sits next to me if she wants to go to sleep, which was exactly what she did minutes after boarding. so much for conversation. but i noticed 3 things: that she was wearing a brand new outfit (navy pants with a lime green blouse), that she sat pressed up next to me so we were touching shoulder to shoulder, and that she was wearing perfume.

my mother's taiwanese care package arrived yesterday, but there was nobody in the office to claim it so the courier left it with gate security. when i went to go look for it i couldn't find it. it was wangyan who alerted me to the fact that she had my package.

after lunch i asked XL if she'd been a good girl today. if yes, she'd get a present. she said yes before i could get to the second part: if no, she'd get two presents. she said she was both and asked if that meant she'd get 3 presents. i finally opened up the care package and gave her the 2 facial cleanser my mother had bought in taiwan on my behest. we spoke in a conspiratorial whisper, while i looked at the photo on the id badge she wore around her neck and playfully tugged at it to bring her closer.

afterwards i texted XL asking her if she was wearing perfume. but i accidentally texted WWY instead, who is now on to the fact that i have more than a friendly acquaintance with someone in the office, and maybe even have figured out who it is. when XL finally replied, she said i had a good nose, and yes in fact she was wearing a little perfume today. she said the smell had since faded, but i told her if i was lucky i'd get a chance to smell it again on my way home. i also complimented her on her wardrobe choice for the day, very vernal.

CH told me i had a package today. i thought she meant the one i picked up this morning but apparently another package arrived in the afternoon, my medium-sized vest.

XL was already out the door more than 20 minutes before the buses would take us back into town. she waited outside, i followed. she said she was waiting for the medium bus, i stuck around until it arrived and we both hopped on. WWY - who usually rides the medium bus - was calling people trying to find a running partner for tonight. XL pointed at me but i declined the offer. "when a pretty girl asks you to run, you run," she told me. i asked her how come she wasn't running. she told me she's waiting until the summer. we carried on our flirtatious banter all the way home. lihui called me minutes before we got back. he wasn't at work today - visiting an acne clinic in chongqing - but asked if i wanted to have dinner at his place. "my boyfriend invited me to dinner tonight," i joked with XL, explaining the situation.

when we arrived, i went to the tailor to pick up my shirt. i went yesterday but she didn't get a chance to alter it yet. i then went home to drop off my boxes. i had time to try on my vest. even at medium size it's still a little snug. i don't blame the clothes, i just have a thick torso (which is an euphemism for being fat). i was almost at lihui's place when he called me again, asking where i was. i picked up 2 containers of yogurt drink as a present, didn't want to arrive empty-handed.

he made 2 dishes, cabbage with carrots, and shredded pork with garlic stems. it wasn't bad but i wish his house with a little cleaner. living with 2 other guy roommates, i think they rarely clean. the kitchen floor is dirty enough i was afraid to go inside and the coffee table is caked in grease. otherwise, it was an enjoyable dinner. he didn't make enough food and by the end we were just eating plain rice. i stuck around a little bit afterwards, but he had an online english conversation course he's taking at 7:30 so i left after a while.

because it was still early, i texted WWY asking her if she was still planning on running. she said yes. i thought maybe she ran in the stadium (which is what most people do) but she said she usually runs to ancient changshou and then back. we agreed to meet at my usual morning bus stop at 8:00.

it was a warm balmy night, a good evening to be out. i got there early and did some stretches while waiting for WWY to show up. she arrived in a t-shirt and yoga pants. we began running. "i thought you promised to speak to me only in english!" she reminded me. so for the rest of the night i spoke to her in english. according to lihui, her english is one of the best in the office. she handled herself well, but her slight english-accented english was a little disconcerting. she told me this was her night of running for the season and that she wanted to lose weight before summer arrived. she ran slow, but the time passed quickly, even though we'd been running for 24 minutes. the path to ancient changshou is uphill so that's more difficult, but the return is downhill so it's a lot easier. parting ways at my apartment, she asked if i was running again tomorrow. "maybe," i told her. if only her cute friend also ran with us! i still haven't had a decent conversation with her ever since our quick introduction.

after a shower, i did some laundry. while waiting for my clothes to finish, i added the chopped cabbage i had drying since last night into the near-empty sichuan paocai jar. i also added some orange carrots. i noticed some fruit flies circling my bananas and the jars of fermenting korean kimchi.

finally, around 10:00, i got around to doing the thing i needed to do most, which was to finally do my taxes. i did this while texting XL on my phone, talking about my sexy legs. it didn't take long, my parents left behind a small stack of my tax documents when they were here. i fact, i finished in about half an hour. i owe federal taxes but getting a state refund, and when the smoke finally clears, i'm only looking to pay a grand in taxes owed, not too bad. i'm glad i finally got that out of the way.