In 1991, a modern soul crashes into the body of a man expected to marry a pregnant woman and take responsibility for her child. The scheme of an unmarried pregnancy, the collapse of a state-owned-enterprise family, and the bloodthirsty stares of onlookers weave a web that traps everyone. Some want to escape back to the future; others want to drown in the past.
"A suffocating snapshot of an era"
Streets heated by coal briquettes, yellowing birth-control posters, fashionable new suits hanging in a tailor shop... Every detail is a scalpel cutting into the 1990s, exposing the festering collective anxiety on the eve of mass layoffs.
"A character trap reflected in three mirrors"
The transmigrator is torn between banging his head against the wall and accepting his fate. The unmarried mother walks the line between manipulation and motherhood. The onlookers’ spittle becomes a knife that kills without drawing blood. Everyone is a villain; everyone is a caged beast.
"The bloody business of marriage"
The bride price is a counterweight, the fetus a bargaining chip. Faced with survival, love becomes a luxury. The mother of the bride suddenly raises the price at the wedding, like a butcher hawking her wares at a market.
"The blurred line between madness and sanity"
The transmigrator is bound as a madman, while true madness spreads through the snickering crowd. So who is really in 1991, and who is in 2024?
(Not a wish-fulfillment story, with no face-slapping plotlines. The pacing is slow, and roughly the first thirty chapters are all setup. Readers who don’t enjoy this kind of story should think twice before giving it a try. No drive-by insults, please. Many thanks.)
