Liang Shun was named Shun'er, meaning "smooth sailing," but his first half of life was anything but. His mother died when he was little, his father ran off, and he was left with his younger sister in their poor hometown, growing up as a left-behind child.
Fortunately, he did well enough in school to make it from a small town to a public second-tier university in the provincial capital, despite the hardships along the way.
By common standards, it was far from a great school. But he had become one of the few genuine college students from that little town.
Liang Shun thought that getting into college meant a bright future. He didn't expect to become famous or anything, but surely he could at least help his whole family become financially secure.
But reality kept beating him down, showing him how cruel society could be. Not everyone had a hard life like his. Some people were born with silver spoons in their mouths and could drive luxury cars as soon as they came of age. For others, a single lipstick or a piece of clothing cost as much as several months of his living expenses. Some looked perfectly ordinary, yet their family wealth exceeded everything his ancestors had owned over ten generations combined...
Liang Shun gritted his teeth and kept going, pretending not to care about such material things. But how could he not care? He grew envious, jealous, and desperate, even tempted to take the crooked path. And the crooked path is always the easy one.
He put on a show online to attract attention, flaunted his wealth in games, and went with rich young masters to supposedly "high-end venues," enjoying the intoxicating praise he had never experienced before.
Those were truly the most extravagant days of his life. But after a brief spell of pleasure, his already precarious family life suddenly collapsed, and he was plunged into a mire he couldn't escape.
He panicked.
For money, he began selling everything: his body, his dignity... And then he lay in bedding soaked with filth, remembering the simple, pure dreams he had once held.
Overwhelmed by unbearable pain, he still got back on his feet and continued on with his unfortunate, hard-knock life.
Theme: Strive for happiness
