Cocoon Smoke

It takes half a lifetime to look back and realize that the roads we walked, the hardships we endured, and the injustices we swallowed were never for nothing.

I wrote this book neither to show off nor to vent my grievances, and it is no legend meant for other people.

I simply wanted to write it for the person I was: someone who stumbled through the years but never bowed their head.

I came from an ordinary life, struggling, losing my way, and keeping silent within the cocoon of fate.

I knew the loneliness of being understood by no one, the helplessness of having no choice, the regrets that kept me awake at night, and the anguish I had nowhere to express.

So many words remained hidden for half a lifetime; so many things stayed in my memory for half a lifetime; so many emotions were bottled up for half a lifetime.

At last, in this moment, I have found the courage to lay it all out, piece by piece.

I write of my youth, my studies, my struggles to get by, and my hardships and growth.

I write of the days when life trapped me, and the times I gritted my teeth and carried on.

The title, Cocoon and Smoke, means both a cocoon and the smoke of everyday life.

The cocoon represents the constraints and hardships of the past; the smoke represents the warmth and coldness, the ups and downs of life.

I hope the words I write can become a gentle blade, softly loosening the knots in my heart.

And I hope this story can help the person I once was, trapped inside a cocoon, break free and truly make peace with myself amid the bustle of everyday life.

I am grateful to everyone who reached out to me at every stage of my life.

And I am grateful to you, here and now, for being willing to hear my story through to the end.

May everyone who has persevered through hardship break free of their constraints and become their own light.

May time gently smooth away every regret.