I felt uneasy about the patch of wetness
close to the eaves at southwest corner. I ascended a height to have a look on
the roof just above and discovered a tile had been slipping out of place.

檐底洇濕惶戚戚，登高擧目瓦脱離。Thanks to the temporarily fine day, I could
climb up the ladder onto the roof and crawl forward to solve the problem in
time.

倚梯伏頂急脩葺，青天白日來相濟。

The Battalion of Astronauts of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army is a unit of heroes on a special mission. The group of
astronauts is a heroic team growing with the development of our country’s space program. Since the 18th CPC National Congress, all the
astronauts have been keeping firmly in
mind the expectations and great trust of the Party and people, dreaming of
China becoming a military power, determined to devote their lifetime to the
space industry; they have commanded the skills of space flight by intensive
studying and hard training and forged ahead realizing innovative great-leap-forward development. The battalion has successfully
completed six manned space flight missions one after another in the twenty
years after its formation, making an outstanding contribution to the project.

You have pupils everywhere and raise seedlings
for the country.

种得桃李满天下，心唯大我育青禾。You are the vernal breeze, silkworm and mud
shielding the flowers.

是春风，是春蚕，更化作护花的春泥。You love your motherland at the expense of your
personal interests.

热爱祖国，你要把自己燃烧。The paddy strikes its roots deep into the soil;
you’ve also taken root
in the hearts of humanity.

稻谷有根，深扎在泥土，你也有根扎根在人们心里。

It is strange that a heavy snow that should
have fallen in winter came down at present. This must have puzzled the newly
sprouted weeds. Although it causes inconvenience to the travelers, it must
bring a pleasant relief to the thirsty fields. In such circumstances, we
usually are informed to stay at home and exempt from work. But this time we
failed to obtain the favor. Moreover the bus, which I had planned to take to
work, was suspended for the bad road conditions. Finally I had to cycle to
school against wind and snowflakes which struck my narrowed eyes continuously.

Today’s showers have almost satisfied
the needs of the thirsty sprouts of green beans planted at the backyard. The soil
close to the roots had been dry and couldn’t be soaked through by my watering.

Yesterday, Ms Liu, a close neighbor of
ours, came to see mother long after her last visit for mother coming down. She chatted
on and on endlessly. I was quite annoyed by her disturbance to my quiet life. I
hoped her to leave as soon as possible for I had an urgent writing task to
finish. But I had to pretend to talk to her intimately.

Fortunately, the
bridge has not been washed away and its piers creak when the travelers walk
across it hand in hand. How difficult and dangerous it is for people to cross
such a wide river!

河梁幸未坼，枝撑聲窸窣。

行旅相攀援，川廣不可越。

Soon after I left school for home when I heard my phone ringing. It was a call from son. He told me he had given me a call a short time before but I had failed to receive it. Except on my journey, I don’t carry the phone at home and school. So some calls can be missed. Later once I found these failed calls from acquaintances or family members, I would ring them back in time. He told me Northeast Electricity Company offered him a job which he may take up after graduation the coming year. If he would accept, he should sign some sort of unrepentant agreement. Afterwards he signed it as I wished.

This afternoon the Italian women’s volleyball team won against the Chinese by a narrow margin. The score was 3-2. In the game we could easily find the weakness of the Chinese team. Most players are still the familiar old ones who have ever won the championship time after time. They should have retired and replaced by new young ones. No team can hold the championship forever. Two of the former strongest volleyball teams, the American and the Russian have been eliminated through the contest. And can the Chinese make an exception? We must face the cruel reality. It is inevitable that the rising force will replace the old power.

The tall chimney of the heating
installation began pouring smoke into the air yesterday. But the pipes still
felt cool in our apartment building.

供暖揚高煙，樓内猶凉管。Thanks to the mercy of Heaven, the arrival of the cold air
has been postponed.

所幸見天憐，寒意故姗姗。

My sanitation work came to an end abruptly. This morning on my arrival at school Mr W greeted me as if to assign some new task to me like cleaning somewhere or some other trivial chores. To my surprise I was informed to restore my former duty－teaching. I needn’t do the disgraceful job any more. I haven’t entreated principal to show some mercy. Maybe he has realized the unreasonable assignment of my job. My teaching work has been shared by the class advisers since the eve of the Teachers’ Day. They must have been displeased with this decision.