Children of the Drifters

Book excerpt: Beginning at the end of the 1980s, after the reform in China, there was a boom of working class. The first generation of workers was called "first generation migrants." Most of their children, the "second generation workers" in this novel, are teenagers about 16 or 17 years old who are graduating high school. They must deal with work, love, and marriage, even though they are still in their teens. Due to the restriction of household registration, most of these teenage second generation workers have no choice but to leave the city they grew up and go back to their hometowns. Although they grew up in the city, they don't have their household registration to remain in the city. If they do manage to find white-collar jobs, they are still called "second generation migrants." This story tells about these second generation Children of the Drifters, and is filled with details about their lives, loves, and worries.