In the summer of 2005, the blazing sun was baking the earth, and cicadas were chirping tirelessly on the branches. Wang Lin, a rural boy who had just graduated from junior high school, came to the county town from the countryside deep in the mountains, carrying a shabby luggage and carrying longing and uneasiness about the future.
He stood on the streets of the county town, looking at the busy streets and row upon row of high-rise buildings, his eyes full of novelty and shock. Although he had seen the prosperity of big cities on that old black and white TV, standing on this land in person, feeling the crowds surging on the streets and the flashing neon lights, everything was so vivid and real that it made his heart beat faster. "This is the outside world..." Wang Lin murmured softly, his voice quickly drowned by the noise of the city.
