The Longest-Lived Confession

Twenty-nine-year-old Zheng Xiaodong was an unremarkable member of Shenzhen’s vast army of migrants chasing their dreams.

Starting a business was hard, his savings were meager, and with the threshold of “thirty, the age to establish oneself” looming, he kept striking out at matchmaking gatherings back in his hometown. On the third day of Lunar New Year, he fled to the Guanyin Temple on Shahu Zhang Mountain and, amid the curling incense smoke, made a wish that seemed almost too much to hope for: a beautiful girl with slender fingers, a lovely singing voice, and excellent English.

Fate answered on Valentine’s Day in 2016.

Aboard a plane cruising ten thousand meters above the ground, he found himself sitting beside He Xiaoyan, who had just graduated. Being from the same hometown and sharing a kindred spirit turned their chance encounter into a meeting that felt destined. Wanting to save face as a man in front of the girl he liked, Zheng Xiaodong gritted his teeth and maxed out his credit card, just so he could dream with her about their future beside West Lake.

From his bold promise on the lake, “I’ll buy you an island and build you a villa,” to their frantic, hand-in-hand dash through Hongqiao Airport; from the gentle beauty of Suzhou’s gardens to the cramped quarters of Shenzhen’s urban villages.

This is a story about “selling dreams” and “buying into them.” When the tide of passion recedes and Zheng Xiaodong faces Shenzhen’s sky-high prices and the pressures of starting a business, can he turn his reckless promise by West Lake into the most enduring declaration of love for the rest of his life?

With delicate prose, this work portrays the hardships of building a business and the sincere emotions of young migrants in Shenzhen. It skillfully blends a romantic love story with the harsh realities of e-commerce entrepreneurship, showing the resilience and warmth of young people today as they pursue their dreams and love.