For dinner I went into the tent to join Chen and the Yens. The floor is just bare ground, the stove is just the open fire pit, ventilation was the door flap of the tent. We sat in smoke fumes from the open fire pit and tried to stay warm.
I decided to help myself and cook. I made fried mushrooms and chips. I needed some oil in my system. But I ended up not eating because everyone else ate them. The tent owner didn’t charge me for the food I made because I cooked for myself. Then the Yens ordered a full course meal. They ordered tomato egg dish for me and a onion vegetable dish for me. I ate a bit out of politeness but I didn’t continue because the vegetable dish had animal lard and onions in it and I didn’t eat eggs. They were pretty disappointed that I barely ate because they ordered them especially for me. I just told them I was full to duck out of it but I was hungry and I would rather be hungry than sick from eating the food that was not a part of my diet.
I did not smoke or drink. People at the table approved of my healthy habit. Mr. Yen tried to find a flaw in vegetarians all in good humor by attacking how vegetarians are just trying to eat like non-vegetarians with pretend meat or taste likes. It was a very typical non-vegetarian thing to do in front of a vegetarian, all to justify the validity of continual habit of eating in non-vegetarian way. Drinks were passed around to keep the body warm. I had considered gargling my mouth with the wine to de-flame my inflamed jaw but I didn’t think that was a good table manner thing to do. I drank murky hot water instead.
Mr. and Mrs Yen are both Sichuan natives from Chengdu. Mr. Yen might as well have been a famous gorgeous hot eligible in the current entertainment industry except he wasn’t eligible and he wasn’t in the entertainment industry. He is a buyer for the commercial industry and married to a beautiful sweet Sichuan wife.
Conversations at the dinner table included views on China and Taiwan issue. Yens voiced how modern young inner Chinese really don’t care too much about it. That people are more interested in peace and prosperity. People are interested in success of a government by action and change through success and not about over powering others. He said that if the Chinese government does a good job then the hearts of people will be won instead of inflicting power and force.
Both the Yens admit how the educational system all the way to end of high school did not encourage individual thinking or critical thinking. That you are really to take whatever is taught as truth. They both attributed their change in their minds to a University education and internet access. It really opened the doors for them. They learned to question and search for evidence on the Google engine.
The current fad is “Google Zha Dan”, translation, Google Bomb. What is a Google Bomb? It is freedom of posting information that reveals your truth. Why is it called bomb? Because a bomb creates destruction on a massive scale and truth can destroy lies and on the Google engine, it reaches masses..
On the subject of current modern living for young couples in Chengdu, Sichuan. Mr. Yen said his job gets him lots of perks because everyone lobbies for his interest so that he will influence his company to buy their products. “Who cooks?” Chen and I asked. The Yens said, “Whoever is currently out of job at the time,” The Yens said their major expense in their living is entertaining friends. They really like the company of friends over at their flat and this is where most of their pay check goes to. That such expenses are hard to avoid unless you choose to be unsocial and have no friends or connections with others.
Chen and Yen were a good pair of stand up comedians. I laughed the whole time until I was physically tired from laughing. I would say my meal for dinner was comic relief of laughters.
