Reborn: Fulfilling My Dreams in a New Life

Rebirth: A Life of Fulfilled Dreams

On the rooftop of the Trade Building in Beihai North City, a young man sat on the railing, lost and bewildered. A cigarette dangled from his lips, its ember flickering like a firefly perched atop the skyscraper. In his hand, he gripped a beer bottle, swinging it back and forth without the slightest fear of falling, as the liquor scattered into the wild wind.

His name was Yang Tian, a senior at Beihai University of Finance and Economics. Yes, he was about to jump, convinced that the past twenty-some years of his life had been a waste.

Above the pitch-black sky, lightning flashed incessantly, though no rain fell. The forked lightning tongues stretched toward the city where he had lived for over twenty years.

He wished, with all his heart, that the thunder would strike him and end his miserable existence.

Looking into the distance, he saw the Little Sand River, now on the verge of being zoned for economic development. Yet that place once brimmed with memories from his youth.

Those were not pleasant memories. Unlike others, his childhood was devoid of laughter and warmth. What he remembered was only his own shyness and timidity, his parents’ disappointment and helplessness, his sister’s sorrow and despair, and the sighs and departure of the girl to whom he had been betrothed as a child.

At this, Yang Tian took another gulp of beer, lit a new cigarette, and swayed drunkenly, barely managing not to fall from the railing.

To the south stood Beihai Second High School. His awkward high school year