Took my niece to the doctor and ran into my aunt and her adopted daughter at the clinic. It had been over ten years and I barely recognized them. We didn’t even say hello.

After she fell out with my dad, our families cut all ties. 

My dad has been an asshole and a heavy drinker his whole life. All of his siblings have cut ties with him.

It's been more than a decade since we broke up and lost touch. In the dream I was right back where I had been all those years ago. There's a line from an old Chinese poem that says memories of youth return in late-night dreams. Only now do I truly understand the sadness behind those words.

Yesterday was my niece's first day of summer break from kindergarten.

One of her classmates from another village came over at 5 a.m. to look for my niece while we were all still asleep.

My niece quietly told us that the girl's name was Meiyu and she had lice.

When we had breakfast, my niece just took a few bites of noodles, put down her chopsticks, and said she was full.

Meiyu said, “I can eat it for Xiangyi.” (my niece's name)

Then, she ate it and said it was really delicious.

My sister asked Meiyu why her mom would let her walk such a long way through the mountains alone.

She said, “My mom got married.”

We weren't sure what she meant.

My niece said, “Her mom left home.”

My sister asked, “Did your parents get divorced?”

“Yeah. My mom doesn't love me. Grandpa loved me, but he died.”

“Who do you live with now?”

“My Grandma. She says I'm just a burden.”

“Your dad?”

“He's away helping someone build a house.”

While the two little girls were playing in the yard, I overheard their conversation.

My niece asked, “Where did your mom go?”

Meiyu said, “Probably Guangdong.”

“Does she ever videocall you?”

“No.”

“You could videocall her.”

“She blocked my dad. I can't videocall her.”

“Do you miss her?”

“No.”

“Will she come back? ”

“No, she's never coming back. She's got a new baby.”

At noon, we invited Meiyu to have lunch with us.

She refused, saying her grandma would punish her.

In the afternoon, she came over again.

It turned out my niece's red doll had caught her eye.

She played with it and couldn't put it down.

She really wanted it, but my niece wouldn't give it to her unless they traded toys.

Meiyu said, “I have no toys at home.”

But before dark, somehow my niece ended up giving the red doll to Meiyu.

Today, Meiyu came over again happily with the red doll. 

I could tell my niece regretted giving the toy to Meiyu, but she didn't say anything.

Later, over something small, Meiyu gave my niece a slight push. My niece started crying, and we couldn't calm her down.

“You want the red doll back, don't you?” my sister asked. My niece nodded.

Seeing this, Meiyu broke down in tears for almost ten minutes.

Finally, my sister talked my niece into giving Meiyu another toy instead, and the two girls kept playing.

A man built a house with bricks from an ancient tomb.

Villagers said, "Don't do it." He did it.

One year later, the man died.

His wife was alone and afraid. Even their dog refused to step inside after dark. Sometimes the wife dragged it in by force. Once inside, the dog clung to her legs and barked all night at the shadowy corner. 

Last month, the dog got a severe skin disease. Its skin began to rot.

The wife took the dog far away. She returned alone.

That was when the nightmares began.

Night after night, she saw her dead husband standing beside her bed.

“Move,” he whispered, ”Leave this house."

The wife became more afraid. She was stuck.

Soon her own legs began to turn black and red. Just like the dog she had thrown away.

A few days ago, my mom and sister visited her. 

She broke down in tears and told them the doctors said it was late-stage diabetes. 

My mom and sister tried to comfort her before they left.

The villagers still whisper about the house. But no one really knows what happened inside it.

I'm 39M and have only finished high school. But I want to be a filmmaker. I've spent almost twenty years chasing my dream of becoming a film director.

Since 2009, I've worked on factory assembly lines to save up for a DV camera and support my family (My dad is a lifelong heavy drinker and has never worked, and my mom is a housewife). Then I rounded up anyone I could find to shoot short films.

I hadn't been to a film course or worked on set, so my work was crappy. I had to go back to the factories to save up again.

After years, I was ready to shoot my second short film. But on the first day of shooting, my dad had a stroke from years of heavy drinking. I quit the crew and went home to take care of him in the hospital for a month. This drained all the shooting money and left me in debt.

Nearly four years later, I shot my second short film, but it sucked. Year after year, I kept working and shooting. But I barely improved. The scripts I wrote piled up, and nobody wanted to read them. The door to the film industry never opened for me. 

Finally, one day, I blacked out on the street. The hospital couldn’t give a clear diagnosis. All they knew was that there was something wrong with my lower back. I stayed in bed for three months. By late 2019, I could walk normally.

Then, when COVID hit, things were tough. I couldn’t find any work, and I fell into debt again.

In 2022, finally, I got a chance to shoot vertical dramas for the web. At first, I was a scriptwriter. Half a year later, I started as a director. I directed more than thirty of them on and off. It wasn’t the work I dreamed of, but I had to take it just to survive and pick up the skills.

But then AI came along, and everything changed. I lost my job and all motivation to create.

I no longer know if it's worth turning my scripts into films. I have no idea what to do with the rest of my life. By the way, I'm from rural China.

Last week, my mom went to the garden to pick veggies, only to find all the chili peppers gone. Zero left.

The next day, word got around that someone else's green beans and cantaloupes had been swiped.

A few days later, a man mentioned in passing that his elderly neighbor had loaded her son-in-law with homegrown veggies before he left.

That afternoon, that same elderly woman came out to chat. My mom, right in front of her, started loudly complaining about a thief in the village. She said, "I hope whoever stole them gets a raging case of diarrhea!" 

My mom also mentioned that her son had ordered a security camera online and that she would find out who stole her veggies sooner or later.

The elderly neighbor mumbled that it's wrong to steal.

Before this, I looked the cameras up online. They’re too pricey. My mom didn’t want to spend money on them.

So we talked it over and decided to pretend we were heading over to install the cameras when plenty of villagers were around, and let all of them see us.

And we did just that.

That night, the elderly neighbor showed up at our door, holding a tiny bag with maybe a dozen freshwater snails.

She claimed it was "just a small gift."

My mom ended up throwing it straight into the trash.

By the way, this happened in a small village in rural China.

Last week, my mom went to the garden to pick veggies, only to find all the chili peppers gone. Zero left.

The next day, word got around that someone else's green beans and cantaloupes had been swiped.

A few days later, a man mentioned in passing that his elderly neighbor had loaded her son-in-law with homegrown veggies before he left.

That afternoon, that same elderly woman came out to chat. My mom, right in front of her, started loudly complaining about a thief in the village. She said, "I hope whoever stole them gets a raging case of diarrhea!" 

My mom also mentioned that her son had ordered a security camera online and that she would find out who stole her veggies sooner or later.

The elderly neighbor mumbled that it's wrong to steal.

Before this, I looked the cameras up online. They’re too pricey. My mom didn’t want to spend money on them.

So we talked it over and decided to pretend we were heading over to install the cameras when plenty of villagers were around, and let all of them see us.

And we did just that.

That night, the elderly neighbor showed up at our door, holding a tiny bag with maybe a dozen freshwater snails.

She claimed it was "just a small gift."

My mom ended up throwing it straight into the trash.

By the way, this happened in a small village in rural China.

I'm 39M and have only finished high school. But I want to be a filmmaker. I've spent almost twenty years chasing my dream of becoming a film director.

Since 2009, I've worked on factory assembly lines to save up for a DV camera and support my family (My dad is a lifelong heavy drinker and has never worked, and my mom is a housewife). Then I rounded up anyone I could find to shoot short films.

I hadn't been to a film course or worked on set, so my work was crappy. I had to go back to the factories to save up again.

After years, I was ready to shoot my second short film. But on the first day of shooting, my dad had a stroke from years of heavy drinking. I quit the crew and went home to take care of him in the hospital for a month. This drained all the shooting money and left me in debt.

Nearly four years later, I shot my second short film, but it sucked. Year after year, I kept working and shooting. But I barely improved. The scripts I wrote piled up, and nobody wanted to read them. The door to the film industry never opened for me. 

Finally, one day, I blacked out on the street. The hospital couldn’t give a clear diagnosis. All they knew was that there was something wrong with my lower back. I stayed in bed for three months. By late 2019, I could walk normally.

Then, when COVID hit, things were tough. I couldn’t find any work, and I fell into debt again.

In 2022, finally, I got a chance to shoot vertical dramas for the web. At first, I was a scriptwriter. Half a year later, I started as a director. I directed more than thirty of them on and off. It wasn’t the work I dreamed of, but I had to take it just to survive and pick up the skills.

But then AI came along, and everything changed. I lost my job and all motivation to create.

I no longer know if it's worth turning my scripts into films. I have no idea what to do with the rest of my life. By the way, I'm from rural China.

Yesterday, we got into a screaming match. The whole thing started because he asked me to help him fix his phone. I tried several approaches, but it still wouldn't work. I told him I couldn't get it fixed. Then he yelled at me to get out of the house.

That made me snap. How dare he say that? I paid for this house to be built, and I also footed all the renovation costs two years ago. He's a lifelong heavy drinker, and he's been relying on me for support since his forties. How dare he say that?

And he crushed my dream of being a filmmaker.

I only finished high school. But I want to be a director. Since 2009, I've worked on factory assembly lines to save up for a DV camera and support the family, then rounded up anyone I could find to shoot short films.

I hadn't been to a film course or worked on set, so my work was crappy. I turned back to the factories to keep working.

After years, I was ready to shoot my second short film. But on the first day of shooting, my dad had a stroke from years of heavy drinking. I quit the crew and went home to take care of him in the hospital for a month. This drained all the shooting money and left me in debt.

From then on, I needed to save money crazily for his medical care and to support the family(my mom stayed home to take care of him).

I had not much money and time left to put into shooting short films anymore, let alone a feature film.

After more than ten years, he’s recovered well by now. At least he can take care of himself. But he’s still got a terrible temper. Yesterday I refused to get out, and he even called me useless, said I don’t make enough money, no one is willing to marry me, and that I’m an embarrassment to him.

I’ve got nothing to say to him.  I am drained and I hope he rots in the miserable reality he created.

By the way, I'm from rural China.