Summer Vacation Day 35: The Big Move-in (2) and the Toil

Hello, Tim!

No, no, no, no, no, no…

There is no way we can accommodate to the life here in Tianmu, both me and my mother. That was why we made such a radical decision to move back, regardless of the newly-signed contract. We arrived at the metro station in Xindian at nine thirty in the morning…

No. That was not the truth.

8/3, Friday

The truth, we were having quite a comfortable life here, in Tianmu. For the first time in months, I slept soundly on the new bed my mom passed on to me (she has her king-sized bed right now; She misses absolutely nothing about her previous bed). The one bed I had in Xindian has a mattress that was too soft and unresilient for an ‘old man’ with consistent back pain (Since then, I sleep on the floor in the living room). With this harder and bouncier mattress that once belonged to Mom, I get to have a good night’s sleep without waking up with severe pangs in my back.

The beautiful floorboards were a boost to the mood, but eight in the morning was probably the time when the bakery downstairs starts the oven and hence filling the room with the thick scent of bread. I don’t get why someone could ever envision waking up at the smell of bread? Try living right upstairs to a bakery!

Anyway, we DID go back to Xindian, but it really was for solely a different reason. You see, now our rented house in Xindian is now mostly emptied, with only the initial basic furniture that came with the house itself. It lacked residents, but it was packed with stains and specks of dust. Seeing this as a problem, Mom decided that we should not give the house back to the landlord when it was still under dusty circumstances, so I took another day off and accompanied Mother back to Xindian for a full-scale clean-up.

Taking a day-off just to be more tired.

On the way back to our former house, we came up with a list of priorities that were to be dealt with sooner rather than later, including the oil-stained kitchen (which Mom later took four hours into cleaning), the floor that was then covered with dust, needing a big sweep and intensive mop care; the corners of both the bathrooms were plagued with mold (both of which were problems tackled by me alone) and there was some hair clogged at the sink in Mom’s; the balcony was a bit covered with dirt, and its railing has several bird droppings residing; the fridge is to be cleaned, and so were some parts of the walls with stains to be repainted once again.

It was straining to keep the same kneeling pose when working, and I got a small blister on my index finger for using the broom overtime (This is when the audience says ‘QUIT WHINING’ so okay.) And also I got a little huffy when I was out in the living room and other rooms doing all the jobs except the only one Mom was working on for four hours even though I knew that the kitchen was sticky because of the oil constantly used in fry pans splatted everywhere in the kitchen.

Painting the walls was the one thing I wholly enjoyed in doing. You get the brush and the white paint the color of the trunk, and then you just begin painting the walls that were lacking in color, most of which were found in my study and the entrance.

After every job was done, we slowly trekked ourselves downstairs and finally headed home, feeling tired and drained. This was an ordeal; I have always known that cleaning up can be torturing, but I never thought it would actually be THAT scary!

There were some other things to talk about, but I think I would have to stop over here; I am too tired to continue.

Outside the beautiful window.

More to come tomorrow.

This is all for today.

p.s. After we were done cleaning the house, Mom and I took a selfie, but the photos are in her phone now, and she’s already sound asleep, so I don’t really want to wake her. Tomorrow!