"I had never paid such a pleasant fine": this was the 25th birthday party of influencer Long Li Xue

Long Li Xue was clear that for his 25th birthday he wanted to have a big party, which he now remembers as one of the most memorable summer nights of his life. “I was particularly excited to celebrate my birthday because you only turn a quarter of a century once,” he explains. The influencer has his birthday on August 8th, and anyone whose birthday falls in the summer knows that friends are often unavailable or traveling. “In the summer it’s always a bit more difficult to coordinate dates, everyone has things going on, but this time we managed to have 100 people. It was nice to reconnect with friends from high school and university, from Girona and Barcelona, and bring them all together.” For the occasion, last summer, Long hired the Catalan trap group P.A.W.N. Gang to perform a concert at his home. “I even hired a Toi Toi [portable toilet service] to put in the garden. I didn’t know these things were so expensive, 300 euros for one night, wow!”, explains Long, who shared the party expenses with one of his best friends, Santi, who also celebrates his birthday on August 8th and with whom they have been having joint parties for years. The surprise expense of the party came with the freshly turned 25: the police showed up at the house to fine Long for the noise. “It was worth it, I’ve never paid a fine so happily,” he assures.    

Long Li Xue says he has a “love-hate relationship” with summer. “I always want to do things, but the heat really overwhelms me. It’s supposed to be a time to enjoy and rest, but I don’t know how to rest. I don’t know if it’s because I’ve bought into the hyperactivity narrative or because I’m self-employed, but I find it very difficult to do nothing,” he explains. He also admits that he has always found it difficult to “associate summer with travel and rest” because they had a restaurant at home and before he became independent, his life revolved a lot around the family business. “Perhaps the most beautiful memory I have of summer is when I used to go out with friends to play football in the Sant Narcís neighborhood: we didn’t mind being dirty and sweating in 40-degree heat”.

As an adult, he fondly remembers a summer he went on a trip to Morocco with a girl he was getting to know. “I think we had known each other for a month when we decided to go on a trip together. It was a bit crazy, but it was very beautiful, we made our relationship official among the desert dunes. For me, it was stepping out of my comfort zone, which is something I try to do often. I consider myself a person with quite a few fears, and I constantly seek to overcome them. I live like in the Sims game: every time you overcome a fear, you complete a mission in life,” he concludes.