Beauty Beneath That Sky

I was fortunate enough to read This Side of the Scenery, a masterpiece by Wang Meng, former Minister of Culture. After reading it, I was deeply moved, and the idea of writing an autobiographical novel took shape. In 2018, I cobbled together my collected writings into a 230,000-character work. I considered it a full-length novel, had it printed at a studio, and put it on my bookshelf for safekeeping. Four years later, at a gathering, I had the honor of meeting “Peninsula” (Sun Yongjun), a renowned scholar from Jiangsu. During our first conversation, I presented him with my idea as if offering a treasure from Persia, and received his approval and encouragement. He gladly agreed to write a review for me. Before long, he sent me a 6,000-character review, which was published in the “Study and Strengthen the Nation” supplement of the Jiangsu Economic Daily. It was as if I had glimpsed my own unique appeal. The beauty of that review left me enlightened. Around the same time, in an online class, I met Gu Jianxin, a council member of the China Microfiction Association, a professor in the Chinese Department at China University of Mining and Technology, and a doctoral advisor. He also wrote a review for me. Reading the assessments of these two esteemed writers filled me with excitement. Once I had calmed down, I resolved to revise my work and publish it again. I'm an impatient person. Like slaughtering a sheep for the New Year or another festival, I plunged into the work amid the celebrations, first skinning my “sheep” (the work), then stuffing its intestines, and so on. I cut apart all the “sheep intestines” (the words) that had been tangled together, then drew on the ideals and down-to-earth spirit of an ethnic minority family to naturally craft a fresh story in step with the pulse of the new era. The story's source is still my “Qiong Dada” (Grandpa