What comes to mind when you think of the turn of the millennium?
Glass skyscrapers, PHS phones, or watermelon bubble gum?
For Meng Jian as a teenager, memories of those things are colored by someone else.
In the turn-of-the-millennium era, when technology was advancing rapidly but hadn't yet fully taken over daily life, he sat beside a boy from his class and tinkered with a bulky desktop computer.
They fell in love against the blue-screen backdrop of Windows 2000 errors.
The turn of the millennium was roller rinks and milk tea shops. A portable cassette player with one earbud each, and popsicles they took turns licking.
It was the confusing excitement of falling for someone of the same sex, soft lips during a kiss, and the heat of a body pressed close amid the fan's creaking noise.
It was the look of disappointment on their family's faces when their relationship came to light, followed by a slap raised high.
It was running into the neighbors in the stairwell and seeing the undisguised contempt and disgust in their eyes.
In 1997, China's Criminal Law abolished the crime of "hooliganism," and same-sex sexual activity was no longer considered a crime.
In 2001, homosexuality was officially removed from the list of mental illnesses.
...But what then?
In the lively turn of the millennium,
what was it like to be a gay couple everyone condemned?
A story about a cocky guy and a cool guy.
Reading guide
1. No previous partners, switch couple, devoted to each other, and as equal as possible.
2. Set amid the campus and everyday life of the turn of the millennium.
3. The turn of the millennium here is used broadly, not limited to the year 2000.
(August 19, 2025)
Theme: Love can overcome anything.
