The novel is about a "coming out" story. Sun Jianping has not turned bad or been corrupted from beginning to end. His biggest dilemma is not "should he join the others", but "should he continue to stay". This dilemma is quieter, more daily, and closer to the true state of the vast majority of grassroots civil servants - they are not in the center of power, not on the anti-corruption front line, they are just slowly consuming themselves in official documents day after day.
