I Was Xiangzi in 1984

Gu Yan finds himself time-warped back to 1984, working as a taxi driver for the Capital Automobile Company. His fellow drivers often self-deprecatingly compare themselves to "Xiangzi"—the tragic protagonist of Lao She's *Rickshaw Boy*—lamenting the endless, grueling labor of modern transport work. Yet, as Gu Yan points out, the original literary Xiangzi actually had a coveted Beijing household registration, owned prime real estate within the Second Ring Road, bought two cars outright over six years, single-handedly supported a family of eight, and even married the boss's daughter. Gu Yan's reality is far bleaker: upon waking up in this new timeline, he discovers his ex-wife has fled abroad, leaving him saddled with a mountain of debt. Frustrated and determined to change his fate, he resolves to rise above the struggle. Being a mere Xiangzi holds no appeal—if he is going to climb to the top, he aims to become Boss Liu, the wealthy proprietor himself. Yet, before he can even secure his ascent, the tumultuous tide of China's great era of economic reform and social transformation comes rolling in.