When rising novelist Lin Fan publicly confessed his love to his boyfriend, Jiang Yu, at his new book launch, he thought it was the bravest declaration of love. But the spotlight he turned on them became a noose that dragged them both into the abyss.
Overnight, Lin Fan's “success” became his family's “shame,” while Jiang Yu's teaching post hung by a thread. Kidnapped in the name of love, they were sent to a place called the “Xiangyang Education Center,” a conversion camp where high walls and barbed wire cut off freedom, and “treatment” served as a cover for persecution.
Here, love was a mortal sin, and honesty a chronic illness. The novelist's keen pen was forced to write “confessions,” while the teacher's clear voice was ordered to recite “correction scriptures.” Electric shocks, humiliation, isolation... Systematic torment sought to break their will and force them to deny who they were.
But in the silent isolation cells, through the glances they exchanged, they found a way to hold on that only the two of them understood: Lin Fan wove his defiance into absurd stories, while Jiang Yu's silence protected the last of his dignity. Under crushing oppression, their hearts drew closer. Love became the only light in the darkness.
This is a life-or-death struggle for love and dignity. They must face not only the institution's attempts to break them, but also the “expectations” of their own families. When lies are dressed up as truth, can they use their true selves to tear open this prison of hypocrisy?
Can a novelist and a teacher, two people who make their living through their souls, win back their lives and the light with love and wisdom?
Different from other Kaidongsho novels, I feel that this one is too soft and not as tough as the ones I have read. The first chapter I read before started, but the third chapter has not started yet, but not many people have read it yet, so I will give it a five-point rating.