On the Edge of the Abyss: A Middle-Aged Man's Redemption from Online Loans

Zhang Lei, a middle-aged office worker, is caught between pressures at home and at work. After a failed investment and a shortfall in his father's surgery costs, he falls into the trap of online loans. From his first loan to cover the medical bills to the avalanche of debt triggered by borrowing again, the novel depicts the brutal collection tactics of online lending platforms and the struggles of human nature through intense conflicts such as "death-threat calls," "the nightmare of his contacts list," and "a court summons." When his family falls apart, his social life is ruined, and his accounts are frozen, leaving him at the end of his rope, a job sorting goods in a basement warehouse unexpectedly becomes the start of his redemption. He applies his project management experience to streamline warehouse operations, and ultimately restructures his debt and rebuilds his sense of self-worth by sharing his skills online.