Qi Xiaopang, 28, is a programmer who drifted to Beijing in search of work. His salary is meager, rent weighs him down, and he lives carefully budgeting every day. His life is a loop of code and bills, with one source of comfort: secretly writing novels, the literary dream he left unfinished in college.
But reality is unkind: a sudden rent increase, the threat of layoffs, and his parents' medical bills back home all hit at once. Just as he is on the verge of breaking down, two unexpected events completely upend his predictable life:
