At the Class Reunion, They Looked Down on Me

After weathering life's ups and downs, I came to understand the hardships of the world. I struggled on through an ordinary, difficult life. My name is Liu Zhi, and ever since I can remember, my life has known neither ease nor warmth. Other people's fathers are the pillars of their families, sheltering them from wind and rain, the ones they can rely on to hold the household together. But my father was nothing but the biggest burden in our family, from beginning to end. He had just three hobbies: drinking, smoking, and buying lottery tickets. Every day, the first thing he did upon waking was reach for a cigarette, light it, and puff away. After meals, he would pick up his enamel cup, wash down cheap peanuts with liquor, and drink until his face was red and he was dead drunk. When he'd had too much to drink...