In the early 1990s, in a small western town, Zhang Xiaolei, who had just finished his entrance exam for junior high school, finally welcomed the long-awaited summer vacation without homework. However, this free and hot summer was not as lively as imagined. Instead, it was filled with repetitive family life and plenty of free time. Coincidentally, that year, the country began to implement the transformation of state-owned enterprises, breaking the iron rice bowl. Zhang Xiaolei's father's unit was also impacted by the reform, affecting the lives of every family in their residential compound.
Children were bored all day long, while seemingly calm adults' hearts were as hot as the scorching sun due to the changes. Zhang Xiaolei quietly endured, sensing the subtle changes happening around him. It wasn't until his father, in pursuit of a better life, left for a distant place, leaving only his mother and him behind, that Zhang Xiaolei truly felt the passage of time and the transformation of life.
On the night of the beginning of autumn, the night-blooming cereus in Zhang Xiaolei's yard quietly bloomed, as if implying something....[3]
