Guo Tongmao's Brief Account of Drifting North

Guo Tongmao's family lives in the Qinling Mountains. The little village is surrounded by beautiful scenery and lush forests, and the mountains produce many kinds of medicinal herbs and are dotted with bamboo groves. After ten years in Beijing, he had never lived in a crowded shared rental or a basement, but he still hadn't become a Beijinger. In the end, he lived in Yanjiao and worked in Beijing. In 1997, Guo Tongmao was admitted to university. He graduated from a university in the provincial capital in 2001, and in August took the civil service exam for that year's university graduates. He passed in sixth place and became a civil servant. After a period of tension over the bride price, he and Che Yue'e married on April 30, 2004. In September, he quit his job and went to work in Beijing.

After arriving in Beijing, he studied desperately for three months, passed the company's assessment, and became a full-time employee. In May, his wife gave birth to their daughter, Tie Li. On October 1, 2008, he went home because his grandfather was gravely ill. After the funeral, he returned to work. At the end of the year, he bought a secondhand home in Yanjiao. After moving there, commuting became a major problem. He bought a motorcycle, and in July 2009, his son Tie Min was born.

On the morning of January 8, 2014, the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, Officer Cong called to say the paperwork was finished and he should pick up the new household register and replace his ID card as soon as possible. On the ninth, he took half a day off to collect the new household register, have his picture taken, and apply for a new ID card. After returning from the Spring Festival trip home, the couple brought their two children to Yanjiao, where their daughter began attending school.