Pressing On Through the Mud

A group of kids from the rural South grew up amid the tide of reform and opening up. They basked in the spring breeze, their hearts stirred with excitement; they stumbled along, yet lived freely. Knowledge mingled with vulgarity, rural life blended with modernity, and sincerity clashed with self-interest. There was loyalty in love, but also animal desire; there was dedication to one's career, but also helpless confusion. The spring breeze caressed their faces, filling them with flights of fancy, while the torrential rain battered them and forced them to face life head-on.