Survival Rules in the Magic City

In the shadows of the concrete jungle of Shanghai, 28-year-old Wang Shuo curls up on the moldy sofa in his rented room, the blue glow of the screen reflecting in his vacant eyes. He dropped out of middle school, yet somehow struggled his way to a master's degree in Chinese literature. Now he has a gold-embossed diploma in hand, but he still can't get a foot in the door of the working world. The keys to his fifth-hand car dig painfully into his pocket, his only tangible connection to this city. When his landlord knocks for what feels like the hundredth time, and his bank balance is about to hit zero, this young man who has been coasting through life is finally forced to face reality. In a city that devours dreams, how can someone with no way back turn his life around? The thorny road to finding a job, the suffocating pressure of making ends meet, and the flutter of budding romance: watch Wang Shuo carve a ray of light out of despair and write an underdog's tale of triumph.