Table of Contents

Preface 
That Year, We Were Born 
Employment: Work and Work 
From "Pigeonhole" to "Ant Nest," Bitterness and Friendship 
Entrepreneurship to Comfort Two Worlds 
Can't Stop, and Won't Stop 
Voices 
Housing: No Longer a Home 
The Sec-Killed Mortgage Slaves 
How Housing Prices Soared in a Month 
Losing His Girl to an Apartment 
Voices 
Love: The Weak in Love 
No Seven-Year Itch 
He Did Love Me in England 
Naked Weddings Are About Love, Not Financial Hardship 
Voices 
Family: Diluted Means of Expression 
Accompanied by Family All the Way 
The Last 150 Times to See Pa and Ma 
"Renting" a Girlfriend to Take Home for the Spring Festival 
Voices 
Children: To Have or Have Not 
Promotion of a DINK Woman 
"A Hidden War" Before Delivery 
After the Baby Came 
Voices 
Choices: To Live Real 
End of a Ten-Year Dream to Be a Journalist 
Let's Play Videogames! 
From IT White-Collar to Intermediate at a Real Estate Company 
Voices 
Responsibilities: 4% of Social Responsibility 
Devoting Myself to Tibet 
College Graduate as Village Official 
A Volunteer for Environmental Protection 
Voices 
Dreams: Lost in Reality 
Hit Hard in One's Thirties 
For the Love and Joy of It 
Dream Come True in Songzhuang 
Voices 
If You Still Have Dreams

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As the Spring Festival of 2003 was approaching, Wang Qing, a fellow villager who was working in Beijing, came back for the holidays. Meng Xuewent to have a chat with this older friend. Seeing the things he had brought back from Beijing, Meng could not help but feel envious. He kept asking Wang Qing questions like: "Is Beijing a big place? Are there plenty of jobs to get?"Wang Qing, who had worked in Beijing for one year, told him, it was a big place and it was easy to find work, but there wasn't any money all over the place as people tended to assume. He told Meng Xue, "Young Bro, come withme to Beijing after the holidays. I'll introduce you to the advertising company I work for, and you can do outdoor billboards." Hearing this, Meng Xue got excited and put out his cigarette. "What advertising company? What are bill-boards? Can I do it? I didn't even finish junior high," he asked. "It's ink jet painting work. You print big outdoor billboards and get paid according to the workload. Usually you can earn 500 to 600 yuan a month. But the company will cover your accommodation and meals. You'll find more opportunities once you are in Beijing," Wang Qing explained. "After all, it's Beijing, the capital!Do you know the phrase 'Beijing drifters'?" he asked Meng Xue. The latter shook his head and said no. "You haven't heard of 'Beijing drifters'? You really should go out to explore the world. If you stay, you'll only end up as a farmer your whole life. You know that?" said Wang Qing. Upon hearing these words,at that very instant Meng Xue made up his mind to go to Beijing with Wang Qing. Beijing was still something beyond his wildest dreams. 
After the Spring Festival holiday, Meng Xue got on a train with Wang Qing bound for Beijing. In his pocket, there was 200 yuan provided by his parents.He was very excited and nervous the whole way. He had no idea what Beijing had in store for him. But he knew Wang Qing had guaranteed he would have a place to live, free meals as well as money to earn. This sounded wonderful.