A Hong Kong Backend Engineer's Survival Diary: One Million in Debt

Hong Kong, 2026. Chen Mo is a backend engineer who came to Hong Kong from the mainland to make a living. He earns 22,000 a month and lives in a 60-square-foot subdivided flat in Sham Shui Po.

166 days until the deadline to renew his Top Talent Pass.

400,000 for his mother's surgery.

1.2 million to pay off his debts.

Three deadlines, one life. His only weapons are a secondhand ThinkPad and a heart that refuses to give up.

Quantitative trading, writing EAs, losing money on collectible cards, Auntie Chan at the cha chaan teng, and his neighbor Ah Ki: this is a true story about counting down the days and struggling to survive at the bottom.

Theme: Striving to get ahead