Work#

Work this year was steady — methodical, rigorous, improving technically, and striving for excellence. Compared to last year, the biggest change has been how AI tools have transformed coding. With major improvements in context awareness, agent capabilities, and automated search, the hottest trend right now is vibe coding — completing coding, debugging, and testing entirely through natural language conversations. This has freed up a lot of mental bandwidth, letting AI handle repetitive, predictable tasks perfectly. On the backend, complex logic still needs careful checking, but on the frontend, simply articulating your ideas clearly can often yield perfect results from AI in one pass.

While AI has dramatically boosted productivity, new tools always bring disruption. AI has leveled the playing field for experience to a large extent, without creating many new job opportunities. As an ordinary person riding this wave, the best approach is probably to embrace change as much as possible and build a financial cushion for the uncertainties ahead.

Learning#

This year’s learning was decent — I passed four exams in my self-study program. Not that I expect these credentials to be particularly useful, but they give me tangible milestones on my lifelong learning journey. Through exam preparation, I systematically revisited modern Chinese history and Marxist principles. While I only scratched the surface, I gained a lot. Marxist philosophy taught me to look at problems from a more abstract, higher-dimensional perspective, and modern Chinese history gave me a fresh understanding of the timeline and the role of key conferences.

I also learned about personal finance and savings, and my savings goals for the year are on track. My investments had ups and downs, but overall I’m in the green — though unrealized gains are just paper profits.

On learning methods: for unfamiliar domains, I now start with videos and beginner-friendly articles, saving books for in-depth reference and gap-filling. I try to apply the principle of negation of negation when encountering differing viewpoints.

Health#

Exercise this year was a mess — otherwise I wouldn’t have caught colds repeatedly within a month. After getting two impacted wisdom teeth pulled during summer break, I completely gave up on working out. My annual checkup showed various minor abnormalities — partly from poor diet, partly from staying up late. Living alone gives too much freedom, and the combination of constant air conditioning, lack of outdoor activity, and late-night doom-scrolling took its toll.

Improving my fitness will be a core priority for 2026: regular作息, creating a calorie deficit to lose weight, and disciplining my diet and exercise.

Books#

Games#

Aokana: Four Rhythm Across the Blue: Top-tier story and music across the board. All four heroines are exceptionally well-written. Appreciating art like this is a genuine pleasure.

Honor of Kings: I play a couple of matches every month or two as a lunch-break pastime. Ranking up too high brings out the try-hard mentality.

Delta Force: Hawk Ops: About 90 hours played. A great way to decompress on days off. No pay-to-win pressure, and bot matches make it easy to pick up.

At the end of the day, gaming is best when shared with friends.

Anime#

I watched quite a lot this year. I realized I don’t dislike anime — I’m just not into most new seasonal shows. Most of what I watched were older series.

• Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches
• The Rising of the Shield Hero
• The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady
• Classroom of the Elite Season 3
• A Mortal’s Journey to Immortality
• Shrouding the Heavens
• Wandering Witch: The Journey of Elaina
• The Eminence in Shadow
• My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU (rewatch)
• Knight’s & Magic (rewatch)
• That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime
• Onimai: I’m Now Your Sister! (rewatch)
• Uncle from Another World
• Puella Magi Madoka Magica series

Movies#

• Detective Conan: Crossroad in the Ancient Capital
• Nezha: The Devil’s Child Stirs Up the Sea
• Malignant
• Detective Conan: The Afterimage of a Single Eye
• Final Destination: Bloodlines
• Dream Cure
• Operation蛟龙
• Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle
• Zootopia 2
• Scent of a Woman
• Detective Chinatown 1900
• Under the Haze (play at Luojia Mountain Theater)
• Happy Dinner (play at Hubei Theater)

Travel#

The more you go out, the more you suffer along the way — but the novelty you encounter on the road is something you’ll never experience close to home.

Mount Lu, Jiangxi: I went during the off-season when it was free. The sun was warm at the foot of the mountain, but the summit was covered in snow. The ice on the steps forced us to walk on tiptoe. Unfortunately, the trip was rushed — after climbing the Five Old Men Peak, we were too exhausted to reach the Three Fold Spring.

Changsha, Hunan: I took an overnight green-train after work. The smell of feet and smoke on the train is still unforgettable. My second visit to Changsha opened a whole new door — I experienced what nightlife really means: 24-hour hotpot restaurants, 24-hour Mixue ice cream shops. This time I made it to the top of Yuelu Mountain, which I’d missed before. The mountain breeze and the panoramic view of downtown Changsha were unmatched.

Tiantangzhai (Heavenly Village), Anhui: I went during National Day. On the way up, the road disappeared into thick clouds with terrible visibility and rain. Then, after passing through a tunnel, the sky suddenly cleared. The walkways were built along cliff faces, swaying with the crowds — quite scary. The air at the summit was the freshest I’ve ever breathed. The cable car ride down was a bit too thrilling for someone who’d just read about cable car mechanics two days earlier.