My name is Xie Xiangdong. I’m eighteen, I failed the college entrance exam, and I was dumped into the steel jungle of a city called Huacheng like a stray dog.
I thought this was a dreamland where gold lay everywhere, but I had no idea it was a killing ground surrounded by vicious dogs.
On the train heading south, I clenched my fists for the first time over a woman. On a neon-lit street, I drew blood for the first time over a woman.
She was the woman my brother left behind when he died, the dream that first stirred my heart, and the only weakness and untouchable boundary I had in this world.
Some people looked down on me for being young. Some laughed at my recklessness. And some wanted to lay a hand on my woman.
I told them: You can mess with me, but you leave my sister-in-law alone!
They said Huacheng didn’t care about right or wrong, only strength.
That night, when I smashed a thug’s head with one punch, I understood: if this world has no rules, then my fists will make them!
My name is Xie Xiangdong. Xiangdong means “eastward.” I’ll keep heading east, and I’ll never look back!
Wonderful, fascinating plot, relatively close to life