Lu Yongquan, a young man with an earthy atmosphere and bookish ideals, his first lesson when he entered the workplace was to face an application for "favorite insurance" at the county civil affairs bureau. There are no heroic epics here, only ubiquitous, cold and elastic "rules". He soon discovered that the "rightness" he insisted on might be as light as a feather in the face of complex reality, or even a "wrong".
But his story doesn't stop with disillusionment. From the dusty desk of the Civil Affairs Bureau, to the silent language of power in the county party committee building, to the heavy fire of wielding the sword of inspection and the ruling party, Lu Yongquan's journey is a burden-bearing trek through the forks in the road again and again. He will learn to interpret the deep meaning between the lines of the document, find a balance on the tightrope of emotion, reason, and law, and have the courage to show his sword when he touches the root.
However, what this book ultimately asks is not Machiavellian survival techniques, but a more fundamental question: How can a person survive, grow and even change the system without being alienated by it? Lu Yongquan uses his footprints to try to answer: Real growth is when you have a deep understanding of the sophistication of the world, and still choose to open up a little soft space for human dignity and warmth in the gaps of the rules.
This is a candid "Notes on Maze Walking". If you have ever been curious, confused or alienated about that huge system, then this story may be a mirror that reflects reality and a window into possibilities.
The road starts from the dim office of Yuning County Civil Affairs Bureau. There is no treasure there, only the first wall, and the choices that must be made after hitting the wall.
