Quarantine Diary

Recently, Omicron has swept through Hefei, causing this city of ten million people to enter a state of near semi-shutdown. You can see the so-called “big whites” outside all day long, along with countless ambulances. You can also come across information on various social media platforms like “a certain neighborhood has been locked down” or “residents of a certain building are being taken away in entire vehicles for quarantine.” In the past, I didn’t think it was a big deal. After all, it’s been three years since the Covid-19 outbreak, and I haven’t been infected yet (of course, even if I did get infected, it wouldn’t be a big deal; I’m quite confident in my body’s immunity). But unfortunately, on October 24, which happened to be “1024 Programmer’s Day,” I was required by the community to go into centralized quarantine. At first, I was quite resistant. I had seen those awful quarantine facilities online, and the thought of staying in one for a week—no one to talk to, no going outside for activities… losing the freedom of a normal person—I felt like I’d go crazy (though, in fact, I didn’t go crazy). But in the end, I found out that I was being taken to a “four-star” hotel for quarantine. This instantly lifted my spirits. After all, staying in this hotel normally costs 300-400 yuan per night. What a steal!

Just as I was secretly rejoicing, I was informed that meal expenses had to be covered by myself. The standard was 40 yuan per meal. At first, I thought 40 yuan should get me some pretty decent food, and with the nice hotel environment, it didn’t seem like a big deal. But in reality, the meals were quite mediocre. Lunch and dinner were barely at a 15-yuan level, and breakfast… well, I don’t want to say much. Just take a look at the picture yourselves:

These very average meals, for someone like me who insists on working out every day, resulted in me looking noticeably thinner after just four days:

Fortunately, although I was supposed to be quarantined for 7 days, I was informed today after my nucleic acid test result (negative) came back that I could be released from quarantine!! Yes, I am now a Freeman!