"Lizi, I'm getting married."
One sentence brought Tang Li's five-year relationship to an end.
The man she had loved for five years walked away without hesitation, leaving her a breakup payment and an ending she never saw coming.
Tang Li was just the most ordinary of countless wage earners.
Gentle and quiet by nature, she was nevertheless remarkably resilient and clear-headed. She never clung to anyone, and never let herself sink.
She neither humbly returned this sudden breakup payment nor threw it away on a whim.
There was no golden finger bringing her sudden good fortune, nor any melodramatic, bittersweet romance.
She only wanted to follow her heart, leave the wrong relationship behind, and break free from a life dependent on others.
She would quiet her mind and plan a new path forward, relying on her own diligence and perseverance to carve out a place of her own amid the bustle of everyday life.
This is the story of an ordinary girl's healing and growth,
a story of Tang Li's own hard work, one step at a time.
Live earnestly and make an honest living. For the rest of her life, she'll live for herself alone.
