When Nie Tianqing was thirteen years old, the bank suddenly called in their loans, pushing his family's small factory to the brink of bankruptcy. Fearing they wouldn't get their money back, creditors gathered near the factory to cause trouble. The atmosphere in the factory grew tense, and the workers stopped working. Overnight, Nie Tianqing's father's hair turned white from worry.
With the production line halted, the factory couldn't deliver goods. Customers flooded their home phone with calls, and his parents apologized repeatedly while compensating them. Just as the family found themselves at a dead end, a project manager from "Damei Construction Company" paid them a visit, presenting an "Asset Acquisition Contract."
The project manager's timing was perfect.
They smoothly purchased Nie Tianqing's family factory—all equipment, machinery, patents, and land ownership were transferred to "Damei Construction Company."
After repaying their debts, Nie Tianqing's parents sold their last remaining house. They moved to "Ancheng Community" in the provincial capital, and their quality of life plummeted.
"Ancheng Community" was a slum in the city center.
Nie Tianqing's family belonged to the poorest among the poor.
Their home had few valuable appliances—just an empty two-bedroom apartment filled with shadows that even sunlight couldn't brighten.
Dad said, "Sudden wealth and sudden poverty test a person's character the most. As long as the green hills remain, there'll be no shortage of firewood."
Mom said, "Several students from Ancheng Community also attend Provincial No. 1 Middle School. Why not make friends with them, son?"
Nie Tianqing flatly refused.
Every morning, Nie Tianqing left home at 5:30 a.m. He rode his bicycle from "Ancheng Community" straight to "Taoyuan Riverside."
Taoyuan Riverside was an affluent residential area where Nie Tianqing had grown up. He pretended he hadn't moved away, meticulously weaving his lie day after day.
He would push his bicycle and stand in the cold winter wind, waiting patiently for over ten minutes until a group of middle school students appeared—all genuine residents of Taoyuan Riverside.
Nie Tianqing would follow behind them.
When others asked where he lived, he insisted, "Taoyuan Riverside."
Nie Tianqing was in his second year of middle school at Provincial No. 1 Middle School. With his striking looks, good social connections, and even better grades, his impoverished family background could never become a stain on his reputation.
One evening, as Nie Tianqing cycled home, he happened to spot his father's electric scooter parked outside a familiar shop. The scooter had a peace knot woven by his mother hanging from it, so he recognized it immediately.
He thought his father was inside buying something.
He squeezed the bicycle's handbrakes and tilted his head to look inside the shop—he saw a stylishly dressed woman tying a scarf around his father's neck. Though the woman and his father weren't doing anything inappropriate, he knew another storm was brewing at home.
Sure enough, that Spring Festival, his father didn't come home.
To be precise, his father never returned.
In the old apartment at Ancheng Community, only Nie Tianqing and his mother remained.
His mother said to him, "Mom is old and useless. I can't earn much money, so we'll have to be frugal, son. You're studying at Provincial No. 1 Middle School—don't compare yourself to others, don't chase vanity. Make something of yourself, so your father will regret this till his dying day."While speaking, Mom was sewing shoe insoles. In her free time, she would set up a street stall to sell clothes, shoe insoles, and hair ties. In winter, her ears would freeze and develop sores; in summer, she would sweat through her clothes. She could argue fiercely over five cents, hands on her hips, cursing loudly with saliva spraying and vulgar words flying.
But she wasn’t always like this.
Nie Tianqing did not hate his father.
Because his father sent a monthly living allowance—two thousand yuan, enough for Nie Tianqing and his mother to cover their daily expenses.
Nie Tianqing began to ponder: Which mattered more—"the integrity of poverty" or "the moral compromise of wealth"?
After years of diligent study, Nie Tianqing narrowly passed the college entrance exam and was admitted to a nationally renowned first-tier university. During his time there, he aggressively expanded his social network, shamelessly mingling in various groups, and it was then that he met his first girlfriend.
Their relationship had its sweet and sour moments.
The biggest conflict between the young couple erupted in the month before their graduation—his first girlfriend wanted to stay in Beijing to pursue her career, while Nie Tianqing insisted on returning to their provincial capital. Neither would yield, and they eventually broke up.
After the breakup, Nie Tianqing did not delete her WeChat. He kept her in his friend circle and continued to follow her updates. He witnessed her meeting and falling in love with Chai Yang, and their rise to wealth—everyone’s lives were getting better and better.
Ever since his first girlfriend posted photos of Chai Yang, Nie Tianqing began to latch onto Chai Yang’s connections.
At first, Nie Tianqing just wanted to understand why his ex-girlfriend had given up on him and chosen a short, stout, pumpkin-shaped man.
Later, he discovered that Chai Yang did have some talent, capable of making great strides and achieving grand ambitions in the computer industry.
The performance of Chai Yang’s "Jiangke Software Company" was steadily improving. According to Chai Yang, the actual controlling shareholder of "Jiangke Software Company" was Jiang Yubai, and Jiang Yubai’s mother, named Guan Xunmei, was the behind-the-scenes owner of "Damei Construction Company."
After several twists and turns, Nie Tianqing realized that the two companies he was most focused on were intricately linked to Jiang Yubai.
During that period, Nie Tianqing’s mindset was deeply unbalanced. At an important banquet, he got heavily drunk and, in his intoxicated state, spoke ill of "Jiangke Software"—Nie Tianqing worked in the finance industry, where loose talk was a major taboo.
Nie Tianqing initially thought his career was over.
Unexpectedly, someone in the industry approached him, entrusting him with the task of helping "Jiangke Software" break away from its parent company and go public independently, with substantial profits at stake. As Chai Yang’s friend, Nie Tianqing felt he should take on the responsibility.
Nie Tianqing agreed.
His relationship with Chai Yang grew closer.
But his disdain for Chai Yang also deepened.
One noon, as Chai Yang straddled the window railing on the top floor of a skyscraper, Nie Tianqing’s hands pushed him down before his mind could react. He anticipated a bloody, gruesome scene but did not expect Jiang Yubai to rush over immediately to rescue him.
Through a twist of fate, Jiang Yubai became Chai Yang’s savior.After a period of recuperation, Chai Yang resumed managing his "Yangyang Live" company. He no longer posted hot takes or followed internet trends, as if retreating behind the scenes to focus on planning the company's development path. Surprisingly, he managed to carve out a small slice of the market. While he didn’t make big money, his team wasn’t starving either—the company just barely kept running.
In contrast, Nie Tianqing’s situation was even tougher—he had volunteered for an overseas assignment and was sent to Pakistan by his company, where he would stay for seven years before returning home.
Nie Tianqing lived with several colleagues in a southern city of Pakistan. Adapting to local customs, he began wearing traditional robes and even posted on social media: "First month in Pakistan—didn’t bring enough clothes, so I’m wearing local robes now."
The next afternoon, his mother messaged him on WeChat: "Son, yesterday morning, I gathered all your clothes, washed them, dried them, vacuum-sealed them, and took them to the post office. I filled in your address and sent them off. The post office will deliver the package right to your door. If you need anything else, just tell me, and I’ll send it to you."
Nie Tianqing replied instantly: "How big is the package? Mom, don’t go to the trouble—I have enough to wear."
Putting down his phone, he felt a momentary daze.
Half a month later, Nie Tianqing received two packages—one from Beijing, the other from his hometown.
The package from his hometown was large, with the clumsily scrawled handwriting of his mother on it.
The one from Beijing was smaller, its script bold and flamboyant—Chai Yang’s handwriting.
Nie Tianqing called over a colleague to help him open the packages—he lied, saying he didn’t have a box cutter handy.
The kind-hearted young colleague tore open the Beijing package without hesitation, and two brand-new Buddhist scriptures fell out of the plastic bag, rolling right to Nie Tianqing’s feet. He suddenly laughed, his smile stiff.
Nie Tianqing’s colleagues loved reading. Without television and with poor internet, books were their only real pastime.
The colleague asked eagerly, "Brother Nie, these scriptures are new—are you reading them? If not, can I take them?"
"Go ahead," Nie Tianqing agreed.
The colleague quickly thanked him: "Thanks! I’ve got a good book here too—just finished it. I’ll trade you with this."
Before Nie Tianqing could respond, the colleague pulled a French novel titled In Search of Lost Time from the bookshelf and placed it on Nie Tianqing’s desk.
Nie Tianqing glanced at the cover. All he saw was the title: In Search of Lost Time .
In June, Pakistan’s climate was scorching, with outdoor temperatures exceeding forty degrees Celsius. The sun blazed like a burning fireball, and Nie Tianqing felt drowsy.
He lay down on a bamboo chair in the office and dozed off, as if time itself was rewinding in his mind.
He missed the Bubble Ball Battle he’d played at Jiang Yubai’s house when he was thirteen, but even more, he missed the summer when he was twelve—when the rain had washed away the summer heat, his mother was in the kitchen making spare rib and lotus root soup, his father sat in the living room watching a soccer match, and Nie Tianqing lay on his small bed in the bedroom, fiddling with an unfinished jigsaw puzzle.
Rain tapped against the window as his mother called out loudly, "Dinner’s ready! Old Nie, Little Nie, come eat!"
Nie Tianqing quickly slipped on his slippers and dashed toward the kitchen.At that time, he didn't know that the moment before his eyes would become the happiest period in the next thirty years of his life.
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