★ Rights sold: English, French, Vietnamese, Russian, Swedish, Czech, Danish.

★ A masterful work of realism infused with dark humor, it portrays the desperation of those who seek to alter their fate while delving into profound themes such as social immobility and the generational dilemmas faced by individuals trapped in rigid class structures.

★ The novel tells the story of Wang Changchi, a rural high school senior whose life takes a tragic turn when someone assumes his identity. From that moment on, he faces one setback after another. To change his son’s fate, he makes an unthinkable sacrifice: he becomes a “shadow father,” handing his own son over to a wealthy enemy in exchange for the chance to rewrite the next generation’s destiny.

★ Some people tamper with history, some with their age, some with their gender—but Wang Changchi tampers with his very fate.

★ The novel appeared on the “2015 Chinese Novel Ranking” list compiled by the Chinese Novel Society and won the “2015 Literary Book Award” from Tencent Business Daily’s “Best Chinese Books” series. The author also received the “6th Huacheng Literature Award – Outstanding Writer Award” for this work.

Wang Changchi performed well on the college entrance exam but was told he had filled out the wrong application and failed—only to later discover that someone else had taken his place at the university. His father, Wang Huai, staged a sit-in protest at the admissions office for more than ten days. By then, almost all of the family’s rice had rotted in the fields, and while at the admissions office building, Wang Huai accidentally fell and broke his back. With no money for hospital treatment, he was left like a dead dog at the hospital entrance, forcing the family to scrape together every last bit of cash they could, selling off most of their valuables just to save his life.

From that moment on, the despair that engulfed the Wang family was as pervasive and inescapable as mold spreading through rotting grain. The humiliating protest that left Wang Huai with a broken back was not just a literal injury—it was a powerful metaphor, symbolizing how the Wang family would never again have the chance to stand tall with dignity.

Rather than retake the exam, Wang Changchi quietly left home to work as a laborer. In the meantime, the once-friendly neighbors and relatives who had always been kind to the family now turned into creditors, descending upon the Wang household to seize whatever valuables they could find to offset the debts: even the egg-laying hens, Wang Huai’s coffin, and the land deed were taken away. It was only with 1,000 yuan that Wang Changchi earned by serving time in prison in place of someone else that the family finally managed to pay off its debts.

Just as Wang Changchi had finally landed a job in the city after struggling to make ends meet, he was struck in the genitals by a brick, leaving him unable to have children. It was only at this horrific cost that his wife was able to survive an illegal abortion, ensuring that the Wang family’s bloodline would continue. Yet even after having a child, the family couldn’t afford to raise it. Left with no choice, Wang Changchi resigned himself to letting his wife turn to prostitution and his parents beg on the streets to keep the family afloat.

Faced with the seemingly inescapable tragedy of a family destiny beyond their control, Wang Changchi made a fateful decision: he gave his son, Wang Dazhi, to a wealthy childless couple. What made the situation even more agonizing was that the man of the household—the man who had taken Wang Changchi’s place in prison years earlier—was none other than the very person whose child Wang Changchi had given up! In the wake of this betrayal, Wang Changchi’s wife left home, and his parents cut ties with him.

Wang Dazhi was renamed Lin Fangsheng and grew up under favorable circumstances: by the age of four, he was already playing football; by five, he was playing the piano; and throughout his school years, he consistently ranked among the top students in his class. Yet he had no idea that someone had been secretly watching over his upbringing all along. Meanwhile, Wang Changchi discovered that his adoptive father, Lin Jiabo, was having an affair and planning to divorce. To ensure that his son would grow up in a complete and happy family, Wang Changchi tried unsuccessfully to pressure Lin Jiabo into staying together. In the end, he made a desperate pact with Lin Jiabo: the two agreed to jump into a river and commit suicide together, ensuring that Lin Fangsheng’s true identity would remain hidden forever.

Years later, after graduating from a police academy, Lin Fangsheng stumbled upon a cold case involving a man who had jumped into a river—and discovered that the man with the same name was still alive. Filled with righteous indignation, Lin Fangsheng resolved to help the bloated, unidentified man in the photograph clear his name. But the deeper he dug, the more terrified he became. He realized that the man he had never known was, in fact, the very person closest to him—the father he had never met. In the end, he chose to destroy the evidence, allowing his falsified identity to remain concealed—and his fabricated life to continue.

Tian Dailin (pen name: Dongxi)

One of China’s most influential contemporary writers, currently serving as Chairman of the Guangxi Federation of Literary and Art Circles, Chairman of the Guangxi Writers Association, and Professor at Guangxi University for Nationalities.

His major works include the novels Echo, Loud Slaps in the Faces, Regret Record, and Fate Rewritten, as well as the novella The Life Without Words. Several of his works have been adapted into films and television series, and some have been translated into English, French, Swedish, Russian, Korean, Vietnamese, German, Czech, Danish, Japanese, Italian, and Greek, and published or released in these languages.

The novella The Life Without Words won the First Lu Xun Literary Prize for Novellas. The film Heavenly Lovers, adapted from this novella, received the “Best Artistic Contribution Award” at the 15th Tokyo International Film Festival. His novel Regret Record was awarded both the “2005 Novelist of the Year” prize at the 4th Chinese-Language Literature and Media Awards and the “2005 Best Book of the Year” award from The Beijing News. His novel Loud Slaps in the Faces was adapted into the film “My Sister’s Dictionary” and a 20-episode TV series. His novel Echo won both the Lu Xun Literary Prize and the Shi Nai’an Literary Prize in 2022, and the Mao Dun Literary Prize in 2023; it has also been adapted into a web series of the same name by the renowned director Feng Xiaogang.

Prologue
Chapter 1: Obsessive Determination
Chapter 2: Utterly Weak
Chapter 3: Loser
Chapter 4: Driven to the Brink
Chapter 5: Manipulation
Chapter 6: Relying on Dad
Chapter 7: Reincarnation
Afterword