Brother Yang on the Road

Yang Dequan’s life didn’t really begin until he was forty-five.

As for how he’d made it through the years before then, even he couldn’t say. He’d muddled along in a daze, never quite knowing what he was doing.

He had no children, and had never had a real marriage. Even now, he still lived in a tiny rental that cost two hundred yuan a month.

At forty-five, still tormented by illness, he seemed to have reached the end of his life.

Was this really all his life could amount to?

Maybe he should go out and see the world. He hadn’t yet taken a proper look at its splendid rivers and mountains. Even if he had to die, he’d rather die on the road.