Amidst

Today could technically be the last day of my quarantine. Tomorrow I start to work in the office again, though only two days a week.

To celebrate the end of this period David and I went for a walk at the Bund, just to see the best of Shanghai at its worst time.

We spent over half hour looking for a restaurant that would allow us to sit in, before we found Moka Bro and spent almost 200 kuai on a udon soup and some rice with imported ingredients, including the completely unripe avocado.

It was exciting just to be sitting somewhere new again.

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I have never seen the Bund so quiet. The weather wasn’t good, gloomy and chilly, but it was my best experience sightseeing there.

Couples sat along the bench, facing or facing away from each other, all in masks.

We spent a few minutes just staring into the river and the highrises across from us. On the other side was the district of Shanghai that had the most cases of infection during this epidemic. The buildings stood strong as usual, not the least affected.

A few ships passed by. Their old marine appearance didn’t quite fit into the scene. The sand-colored water waved under the wind. David told me where was the east.

We always found ourselves, and each other, by the river.

We left after a while because it got cold, and a loudspeaker warned people to wear a mask and not to stay long.

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A few days ago we went to the noodle shop near home, the first time eating in a restaurant in over a month.

Many shops, from restaurants to pharmacies, had a notice on their door: those not wearing a mask are not allowed.

Inside the noodle shop people ate and chatted as usual, some with their masks hanging on one ear.

The mask became the new normal, and the new moral.

I laughed when I told David his old thin mask was probably not working, and he said it did. The only purpose of wearing a mask now was to show that you were wearing it, so it worked.

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I stuck the straw into my mouth through the bottom of my mask. I felt I was committing a sin for buying a milk tea. Who knew if the ingredients they used were clean, and it was never as tasty as I thought it would be. Risking my life for a sip that wasn’t even worth it?

Well, we’ve been too bored, too bored…

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Many cafes were still closed. Some restaurants were starting to offer take-aways. Exciting to see people and cars moving. There were other living beings! Unfortunately we still had to breathe in a mask.

Is life just slowly going back to normal? The days in which I didn’t have an office and David didn’t have a cafe would just end?

Someone asked in a group chat if there would be anything different from how it used to be. Didn’t the virus leave us something? Just some dead bodies and old jokes? Or a crippled internet speed?

People were coming out. The wind was blowing. So exciting and scary, just like when the virus first came.