Mom, my finger got poked.

Author: Chen Yishui
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-02-01
Features: Unlike the current hot youth literature ambassadors like Han Han and Guo Jingming, she doesn’t pretend to be cool, unconventional, or shocking. Instead, she faces life honestly and seeks her own aspirations. This is dedicated to the authentic majority. Over the years, I’ve read many writings by young writers, but rarely have I encountered such clear and simple words as Chen Yishui’s. She doesn’t seek fancy, only cleanliness and sincerity. Here, there is no exaggerated embellishment, no forced emotional outpouring, no fictional sorrow, no senseless autumnal melancholy of life. Everything comes from the heart, from genuine personal experiences. Even in fictional writing, it doesn’t rely on noise, extravagance, recklessness, or aimlessness to capture attention. Yet, it still appears refined, revealing talent at every turn. I think this is a commendable beginning. — Cao Wenxuan
Han Han is a rebel against the education system, and we are the rebels under the education system. Han Han is probably like a meat-eating bull, and in the end, he might even be eaten by wolves. And us? We are precisely those grass-eating bulls, destined to be eaten by wolves. People say that rebellion is the textbook of youth, and being unconventional is the synonym for youth. Standing at the crossroads of eighteen, a casual glance back, I see a series of clear footprints, gradually fading with memory. I can’t bear to see youth slipping away, so I string them together into a book. There is no restless rock-and-roll rhythm, no lazy strumming of the guitar. It records the ordinary days in and out of class, expresses my sincere love for home, presents a world of both reality and fantasy, and touches on observations of people and society. Youth doesn’t need adornment or decoration. Walking on the path toward the future, I hope to let me and my peers wear a simple, unadorned youth as our outer garment.