Starting Over

Starting Over is a long urban-rebirth novel by the web author Ya Yi'an, running to about 990,000 characters. It was serialized on Qidian Chinese and later circulated on various novel sites as a proofread complete edition. The story begins with a dream: college student Luo Xiang dreams himself back to 1994, when he was a junior, and with memories of the next dozen or so years, he gains a chance to live his life over again. The novel does not rush to let the protagonist ride his "foreknowledge" smoothly to success; instead it centers on the authentic texture of campus and society at their intersection in the 1990s—classes, dorms, clubs, part-time work, job assignments upon graduation—and these rough yet vibrant details of daily life form the most flavorful part of the book. As Luo Xiang moves from campus into society and into government office, the main thread gradually turns to official career and personnel politics: who arranges whom, who is arranged, and how a person should conduct himself within the bureaucracy. The author calls the book "an adult fairy tale of future and hope, fate and struggle" and summarizes its themes with four keywords—"People: men and women; Fate: arranging and being arranged; Gate: government office; Heaven: man proposes, heaven disposes." On the romantic side, characters such as Bai Hua, Yuan Qianyan, and Ai Xue each have distinct personalities and predicaments, while the fates of Hong'er and the black donkey leave one sighing. The book ends with Luo Xiang being transferred to serve as the deputy mayor's secretary and a friend proposing a sham marriage, leaving an open aftertaste.