The Foolish Prodigy of the Nineties: A Spirit Medium Who Rules the Countryside

A feel-good story, but not a fast-paced, pure wish-fulfillment romp. It has deeper emotions and more delicate descriptions, making it a good fit for readers born in the 1980s and 1990s who may find plenty to relate to. A top scorer on the college entrance exam and an urban white-collar professional falls so far that he ends up following a rural song-and-dance troupe to funerals, wailing for the dead, yet somehow thrives. The contrast is striking. In late-century central Hunan, Lin Yan is framed and nearly killed. He survives by playing dumb, and uses the supernatural ability he awakened after a brush with death, which does not make him invincible, along with his extraordinary intelligence, to wail for the dead and bring good fortune. His reputation as the “Dumb Half-Immortal” spreads across central Hunan, while the name “lecherous fool” makes the rounds among song-and-dance troupes and the local underworld, attracting one lovely woman after another…