At twenty-six, with 300,000 yuan in debt, I fled from the north to a coastal city in the south.
All I wanted was to work my fingers to the bone and pay off my debt. Instead, I stumbled into a bar on the verge of closing and got tangled up with a few women and a whole bunch of friends. Lin Xia, the flower shop owner, is divorced, sharp-tongued but soft-hearted, and always calls me hopelessly conflicted. Tang Yu, the bar owner, seems carefree, but is always cleaning up other people’s messes. Zhou Yan, the photographer, is like a gust of wind: whenever she appears, the story gets more exciting and more chaotic. Then there’s Old Gu from the auto repair shop, who says every day that he’s about to die, even though he’s the healthiest of us all.
We drink, argue, fall silent, and tug one another in different directions. I’ve weathered a lot, and I’ve messed up plenty, too.
Here, I gradually come to understand that maybe being alive isn’t about making a spectacular comeback. Maybe it’s about learning to accept everything, including yourself, amid the mess of everyday life.
A slow-burning story about reality, relationships, and a cast of people living on the margins.
Theme: A record of ordinary people struggling and making peace with themselves in the quagmire of reality, exploring the deeper question of life: that acceptance may matter more than making a comeback.
