Liang Xiaosheng, a writer, is an evergreen tree in the Chinese literary world. He was a pioneer in the creation of educated - youth literature. His series of published literary works profoundly display the pain and joy, the quest and dreams of the educated - youth group. He sincerely praises the beauty of their souls and noble character shown in adversity, and has set up an indomitable spiritual monument for the educated - youth generation.
——People's Daily (Overseas Edition)

Despite vast changes since the 1990s, Liang Xiaosheng's impassioned voice remains uniquely powerful — his works continue to offer readers genuine intellectual fulfillment, just as he does for his students as a devoted professor.
—Zhang Yiwu, Literary Critic

★Selected by "Fiction Monthly", "Selected Novellas", and "Chinese Literature Selections".
★Spotlight on ordinary lives in extraordinary times: People such as Taxi drivers, factory workers, rural teachers, farmers, etc. in Spring Festival travel rush, Wenchuan earthquake, Reform and Opening-Up an
urbanization.
★A poignant symphony of "home": Four stories across different eras, united by one theme — an intimate "epic" of family life.
★Revealing humanity's brilliance in mundane struggles, discovering dreams' resilience amid adversity.

This anthology collects four of Liang Xiaosheng's finest novellas: "Homecoming", "The Exhausted Man", "Mountain Flowers" and "On the Ruins of the Old Manor".
Included works span from acclaimed pieces originally published in "Fiction Monthly", "Selected Novellas", and "Chinese Literature Selections" to recent creations. Liang documents the common people's hardships and hopes, faith and disillusionment, noble virtues and unjust struggles.
With profound humanistic compassion and sharp sociological insight, these stories embody:
• Unflinching humanitarianism
• Deep reverence for grassroots resilience
• Masterful chronicling of China's social metamorphosis

Liang Xiaosheng

He was born in 1949 in Harbin with ancestral roots in Rongcheng, Shandong. He is a renowned contemporary Chinese writer and scholar. Currently, he serves as a senior professor at the School of Humanities of Beijing Language and Culture University, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), and a researcher at the Central Research Institute of Culture and History. To date, he has authored over ten million words of literary works, including essays, novels, commentaries, and documentary literature. His representative works include "Tonight There’s a Snowstorm", "The Rings of Time", and "Educated Youth". In 2019, he won the 10th Mao Dun Literature Prize for his novel "A Lifelong Journey".

Homecoming / 001
The Exhausted Man / 027
Mountain Flowers / 124
On the Ruins of the Old Manor / 187

The driver said indignantly, “That’s why I cursed at you! What kind of person do you take me for?”
The man replied, “Not a very good one. You might as well confess, last night you wanted to stay in the same room with those two girls. What were you thinking?”
“I was trying to protect them! I also thought that you brought us to your home with ill intentions!”
“Then you’re judging a gentleman by a villain’s standard...”
“Where do you look like a gentleman? Don’t you even look at yourself in the mirror? Would a gentleman be someone like you?”
“I know I don’t look like a gentleman without you pointing it out. I wasn’t even a good person before, and often intended to be a villain. I did things that harmed others for my own benefit without any regrets. But in the Wenchuan earthquake, a close relative of mine, a family of three, none of them died. It can’t be called very lucky, as they were all trapped in the house and had to be dug out at the risk of others’ lives. At that tragic moment, I wanted to remember the faces of our saviors, but I couldn’t tell who was who as soon as I turned my head. Since then, I’ve always wanted to do something good if I ever got the chance. In one’s life, if you’ve tasted all the good food, it’s called not wasting your mouth. If you haven’t done anything bad, it’s called not wasting your conscience. But if you’ve done a few good deeds, that’s called living a noble life. Who, whether man or woman, wouldn’t want the chance to be noble...?”