Drifting in Shanghai

In the fall of 2019, the protagonist, a sophomore, and his roommate Liu Yang, nicknamed “Big Cannon,” set out from a vocational college in Jingzhou and embarked on their journey as migrants in Shanghai, carrying only a hazy longing for the city. They both began internships at Xianda Fresh Foods as delivery workers at the Nancang Station in Huangpu District. Amid the bustle of the city's alleyways and the exhaustion of constant travel, they began their struggle to make a life in Shanghai and grew along the way.

They were each other's strongest support: squeezing onto trains together, renting a tiny room like a pigeon cage, drinking and venting about the unfairness of work, seeking brief comfort in brothels, and standing side by side through the hardship of the pandemic lockdown. The protagonist is reserved and resilient. He works his way up from delivery worker to station manager, gradually sinking under the weight of responsibility and pressure. Big Cannon is outgoing and impulsive, loyal but lost, and always stays by the protagonist's side, though in the end they must face the choice of going their separate ways.

Over five years as migrants in Shanghai, they experience the awkwardness of starting a job, the joy of promotion, the torment of lockdown, and the uncertainty of unemployment. They meet kind Grandma Zhang, a warmhearted old woman, and colleagues who understand one another, while catching glimpses of the hard truths of life for outsiders in the bustling world of the brothels. From delivering through the alleys for Xianda Fresh Foods, to dreaming of the Bund, to the disappointment of returning home, every step bears the marks of an outsider's hardship and tenacity.

In the end, the protagonist returns to his hometown, weighed down by exhaustion and memories, while Big Cannon lingers at a crossroads in Shanghai. This book offers no triumphant comeback, only the most authentic everyday life of migrants in Shanghai. It captures the struggles, perseverance, and farewells of two ordinary young men, as well as the tug-of-war between dreams and reality faced by all those who leave home, and the vivid memories of youth, friendship, and the journey back.