Zhao

Zhao is the 15-year-old main character and first-person narrator of the short story. At the story's start, Zhao waits on the Shanghai train station platform with his father. Because the government has deemed Zhao's social status flawed, he is being shipped off "to a remote rural town" called X (1). In X, peasants are supposed to reform Zhao. On the platform, Zhao tries not to cry. He knows that he and his father may never see each other again. Wearing his father's shirt allows him to believe in his own emotional strength. He listens to his father's parting words and boards the train.

Three days later, he arrives in X. The land is barren and arid. He has no idea where he is supposed to go or how to get there. Despite his disorientation, Zhao is afraid to ask for help. He follows a group of boys into town...