Lin Yannan, a rural boy born in the 1980s, spends half his life struggling against the tides of a changing era.
From a naive boy in a country classroom built of mud bricks, to a school dropout making his way as a low-level migrant worker, from a dazzling career success at the top of his profession to a down-and-out middle-aged man buried in debt, he makes his way through a full twenty-six years.
As a boy, he has brothers at his side, a heart burning with passion, and the person he loves by his side. He believes that with enough sincerity, he can shape the life he wants.
Only when he grows up does he learn that human affection is as thin as paper, and loyalty is easily broken.
Some offer help in your hour of need, while others kick you when you’re down. Some reach out a hand, while others want nothing to do with you. His best brother marries his close friend’s ex-wife, and the confidant of his youth becomes a stranger.
He builds himself up from nothing, only to see it all collapse overnight. He has a son and a daughter, yet his family falls apart. He has known dazzling success, and he has lost everything.
Half his life is warmed by the hearth; the other half is chilled by wind and frost.
This is the most honest portrait of a person born in the 1980s: a story of the struggle to make a living at the bottom, the cruelty of office politics, the difficulty of staying together in marriage, and the comings and goings of brotherly bonds. Every word holds regret, every sentence aches with sorrow. It is written for every ordinary person drifting through the years.
