Reborn in 2011: Me and My Leading Ladies

Reborn in 2011, he did two things: bought five thousand Bitcoins, then set off on a journey.

In an old villa on Gulangyu Island, he met a young man from the north who ran a café. “I didn’t open this place to sell coffee,” the man said. “I opened it to sell people a choice.”

Deep in the mountains of Yunnan, he met an old farmer who grew coffee. He tended a grove of trees that were twenty years old and wanted to prove that “Yunnan can produce world-class beans, too.”

In Baisha Old Town, he met a Naxi girl who made silverware. Her grandfather had left behind an unfinished design for a silver spoon.

In Dali Old Town, he met a Bai woman who did embroidery. One of her works was called “Layered Emerald Clouds Brocade.”

Under the plane trees in Shanghai, he met a woman who had just left the military. “I’m protecting you not because it’s my mission, but because I want to.”

He had planned to take his time, see the world, and slowly shape his days into the life he wanted.

He never expected that taking it slow would last a lifetime.