Chi Hai arrived in fog-shrouded Shanghai with only 3,217 yuan to his name.
When I got off the train at Shanghai South Railway Station and watched the crowds come and go, I thought about how this city held the dreams of countless people, while others were fleeing its rat race. As I watched them pass by, my Shanghai experience began. I had worked up the courage to come here alone. I had no destination when I got off the train, only the joy of being free.
Li Hui, a candy between his teeth, snatched his luggage away. “In Shanghai, when you’re hungry, you won’t even have the strength to cry.”
Meng Yanzhi appeared in the rainy night and pushed open the convenience store door, looking utterly disheveled. But he softly said, “My name is Meng Yanzhi.”
The little attic deep in the alley sheltered all their exhaustion and stubbornness.
They were so poor they could barely make ends meet. They split half a roasted sweet potato and a bowl of instant noodles, turned the red crosses on their painting drafts into smiling faces, and laughed as they said, “Let’s hang on a little longer.”
When the fog finally lifted, the warm light in the alley became the brightest light in the rest of their lives.
Theme: We find ourselves through others
