Half Shanghainese

I have lived in Shanghai for twenty-five years, but I have always been "half Shanghainese". Twenty-five years ago, everyone told me I was crazy. My name is Yu Manman, a girl who grew up in Chongming Island. She should have found a local boy with a house and a car to live a stable life, but instead she fell in love with Li Changling, a poor student from a small county in Jiangxi Province. She studied "psychology" that no one could understand at the time and could not make any money. Her entire possessions were a box of books and a heart that would never look back until it hits the wall. Our first home was a Shikumen pavilion with a monthly rent of 600 yuan. Fifteen square meters, the kitchen and bathroom are shared with neighbors. On the third day after moving in, Auntie Wang next door blocked the door, looked her up and down and asked, "Young man, are you living together?" At that moment, I understood that in this city, even "being together" is scrutinized. I thought that if I saved enough money, one day I would be able to hang a door sign with our names on it. I didn't expect that this wait would be twenty-five years. The house price has increased from 3,000 to zero. We have rented seven apartments and moved nine times, but we have never owned one. Giving birth, being looked down upon, being repeatedly measured by both parents... Every obstacle was enough to make us break up. This is not a cool story about a poor boy's counterattack, nor is it a tragedy about suffering for love and regretting it. It tells the story of how a woman goes from believing that "love conquers all" to becoming a middle-aged person who knows that "love cannot defeat housing prices, but still chooses love." If you have also been wandering in a city that does not belong to you, this story is written for you. Pay tribute to us ——Yu Manman and Li Changling, the story behind the 25-year marriage of two Shanghainese with the beginning of 310 who rented a house in Shanghai.