The novel tells the story of the growth process of the fictional protagonist Tang Yunxing, a contemporary young man in Jinan, from attending classes in the first grade of junior high school to working after graduation.
The first volume, Fuyao, tells the story of Tang Yunxing's academic experience in junior high school where he was proactive and kept his firm belief despite many failures; the second volume, Lost, focuses on Tang Yunxing's high school life. During this period, he encountered a series of setbacks such as broken love, declining grades, death of relatives, and strained interpersonal relationships. Due to the shock and misfortune, he felt that his life was hopeless, from optimism to sinking, and lost confidence in life; the third volume of "Breaking the Waves" is Tang Yunxing's attempt to restart a new life. He reintegrated into society, and could face reality with a normal heart even if no one cared about him, no longer ambitious, and completely got rid of mental internal friction. The changes in the protagonist's overall mental journey in these three volumes are: unwilling to be ordinary (Volume 1) → willing to fall (Volume 2) → accepting ordinary (Volume 3).
The "ordinary" and "mediocre" in the title of the book "Ordinary and Mediocre" respectively correspond to his two stages in the story. The self-destruction in the second volume is "mediocre", while in the third volume he lives an ordinary life like all living beings, which is "ordinary". The novel intends to express the truth that "you can be ordinary, but not mediocre". Even if we don't have any spectacular achievements, we must be passionate about life and live for ourselves.
