The Life of an Ordinary Person

Ages 0–6: pre-school

Age 6: first grade

Age 12: middle-school entrance exam

Age 15: senior-high entrance exam

Age 18: college entrance exam

Age 22: graduate, start working

Age 25: after three years of hustle, monthly salary 5,000 yuan; borrow for the down-payment, sign up for a 30-year mortgage

Age 27: borrow more for the bride-price, finally marry

Age 28: a child is born; start saving for early-childhood tutoring

Age 34: child enters school; nine years of compulsory education—5,000 yuan a year in fees, 10,000 more for cram school; the squeeze tightens

Age 43: child faces the senior-high entrance exam; school fees jump to 10,000 a year, another 10,000 for tutoring

Age 46: child comes of age, works part-time while studying, never asks for a cent; your own strength fades while your heart still wills

Age 50: child graduates and starts work; you are aged, laid off for being too old, picking up odd jobs for pennies

Age 53: after years of scraping, you help with the child’s down-payment; an old-folks apartment is shameful—bride and groom need a new flat

Age 55: at last the 30-year mortgage ends, but you take another loan for the next bride-price

Age 56: the first grandchild toddles; half a life has come full circle

Age 65: a lifetime of toil demands its due, yet broken coins cannot mend a broken body

Age 75: you walk alone out of this world; looking back, you were lucky to escape grave illness.

What is there to say of the common, busy throng? A handful of clean dust joins the hills.

“My child, I would rather owe you a happy childhood than watch you live a humbled adulthood.”

Later someone took the thought and carried it further:

“My youth, I would rather owe you a proud adulthood than watch you endure a miserable middle age.”

“My heir, I would rather owe you a dignified middle age than watch you face a wretched old age.”

“My elder, I would rather owe you a peaceful old age than see you helpless in your final days.”

“My departed, I would rather owe you a grand funeral than watch your next generation lose at the starting line.”

Put together, it all becomes:

“My child, I would rather you had never come at all than see you live a life of misery.”

I have played every role—except myself.