The Darkest Moment of a New Generation Migrant Worker

Preface

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At year’s end, time to hand in my homework. This year, as an unemployed drifter, I wasted quite a bit of time. After living in the Ice City for a year, I once again returned to the base where I used to fight — Beijing, the capital. Don’t ask why — life forced me to.

This year has been rough. Family members fell ill, my grandmother passed away, work was unstable, the pandemic became normalized… almost no good news. At the beginning of the year, the pandemic broke out, causing a severe lockdown during the Chinese New Year. I spent the New Year at my classmate’s place.

Poetry and Distant Horizons

When I left Kuaishou, a colleague said this was Brother Zhou’s poetry and distant horizons. Excuse me — haha. Today, Brother Zhou has to pay the price for his poetry and distant horizons.

Sometimes, a dream not worth being mocked is not worth realizing.

"少鹏": 洲哥要坚持写博客呀！  
"我"：嗯, 我一定会坚持写好!

Thankful that I still have colleagues like this.

2021 Review

• About Life
• About Work
• About Learning
• About Gaming
• About Car Repair

About Life

Since the last term of Golden Hair Trump, the US pandemic has been out of control, causing the world to stagnate. After his successor Biden took office, the pandemic was still not effectively controlled, and at the same time, money was being wildly printed, causing severe USD inflation. This seriously affected the world economy, and ultimately affected my income (everyone’s income).

The elegy of the post-pandemic era continued to ferment endlessly. My life fluctuated with the pandemic, never stable. After returning home, I became reticent, but my passion for technology never waned despite the change in environment.

To respond to the pandemic, the country provided free vaccines. As of the time of writing this article, I have completed all 3 doses of vaccination, protecting the safety of myself and my family.

The Happiest Thing

The happiest thing this year was getting the property deed for my new home.

After work, throwing my coat on the sofa and starting to make dinner — I never expected the kitchen to be where I spent the most time.

I was like an alchemist, adding oil and vinegar, managing oil temperature and cooking.

After dinner, I’d go for a walk at the Haxi Station square near my home and reflect on life.

As for cooking, I really admire my college teacher Li Yuehui. No matter how I try, I still can’t master food plating. Every time I see the teacher cooking during holidays and sharing on WeChat Moments — top-tier skills. I’ll ask for advice in person when I get the chance.

In July, I took a trip to Qiqihar’s Zhalong Nature Reserve to see my girlfriend’s relatives’ villa.

The villa is nice — the vegetable garden became the perfect accent for the villa.

The key is to see the red-crowned cranes!

Let me share the approximate route and journey for those who want to drive there.

From Harbin West Station to Zhalong Nature Reserve, driving on the highway takes about 3 hours and 10 minutes. Tickets are cheap, just a few dozen yuan.

You need to take the ring highway past the Songhua River Service Area, then take the Suiman Expressway toward Daqing. Daqing is huge — almost 2.5 hours of the journey is within Daqing’s territory, passing through Zhaodong, Anda, Hongqi Reservoir in Daqing’s Ranghulu District, Lindian County in Daqing… before finally arriving at Qiqihar’s Zhalong Service Area.

The highway distance is about 300 km. The total cost for the round trip is about 600 RMB, which is more than enough.

Key reminder: there are lots of mosquitoes, and bring sun protection gear.

Reflections After a Year Back Home

I think I need to talk to you all about what I gained or felt after a year back home.

• Experienced the local culture and customs of my hometown
• Many people are living barely above the subsistence line
• No license plate restrictions at home, so I can drive freely
• No rent to pay
• Buying things in my own house without worrying about moving or whether it’s convenient
• Poor work environment, less inclusivity
• The cost of living in my hometown isn’t much lower than Beijing, but the income is far less
• Medical care is not great, completely different from Beijing
• No last-one-out elimination at home; teachers, civil servants, and government workers are more popular and accepted by the public
• Hometown values academic credentials over ability; master’s degrees from Double First-Class universities may get job opportunities. The rest, forget it.

My hometown is a tier-3 city where real estate is the pillar industry. Former heavy industry brands like Hafei are in decline. Government policies are implemented as empty promises. My deepest impression is that most young and middle-aged people in my hometown are in a state of having lost hope for the future, barely getting by. Only a small fraction of business owners can prosper and live stably in the city. Everyone else is in a lying-flat state, living day by day. Career planning is out of the question. Let alone building a harmonious society, developing the economy and high-tech industries. The annual population outflow rate is 33%+. These are some micro-level impressions after returning home.

Life must go on. After thinking for a long time and recognizing the reality and environment, I still feel that tier-1 cities are better suited for my career development.

Of course, reading this you might mock my stupidity. That’s fine — I also mock my own ignorant recklessness and misjudgment of urban development. But I believe all the above feelings are things that cannot be truly experienced or practiced while sitting in an office. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing — it’s a practical manifestation of growing up and broadening my horizons. If I had waited until middle age to experience this, I believe it would be even more painful! But I hope you all don’t repeat my mistakes. Making wise choices and having a good career development path is what makes you a winner in life.

Even though life has been so rough, my body and mind have achieved an unprecedented level of comfort and improvement. I’ve become increasingly willing to endure various painful experiences, and my mindset has improved. This is something unprecedented in my 7+ years of working in Beijing. Consumption habits, attitude toward life, psychological expectations, acceptance, acknowledging my own mediocrity, and so on.

To experience what everyone often discusses about civil service exams, I gave it a try. The result was as expected — it requires constant practice, not something achievable overnight. But I gained a lot. For example: in the essay section, describing social phenomena and providing reasonable, publicly acceptable, and practical solutions. Although sometimes we can be unbridled when thinking from an ordinary citizen’s perspective, thinking from a civil servant’s perspective requires following the first principle of always serving the people, articulating and writing feasible measures and optimal solutions. And it requires great challenges in writing ability and logical organization for civil servants. It can almost be said to be one in a thousand. The official notices or similar text messages we see in our daily lives — these all need to go through professional training and language organization skills, reviewed N times, before being sent out immediately. That’s why when we see them, we can’t find any problems. But have you ever thought about who writes these? It’s civil service staff. You might think it’s just a matter of speaking, but you don’t know how much effort goes into being able to just speak. For training to write a single statement draft, I practiced 10+ times, and still couldn’t write it perfectly! (Maybe I’m just not good at clerical work.) Honestly, from my high school graduation exam to writing the civil service essay, I hadn’t written a 1200+ word essay in over a decade. As for structure, writing skills, and techniques — they’ve long been handed over to Baidu with the development of the internet. But after the exam, I was quite satisfied with my essay overall. Although it was a Category 3 essay, I scored 57 points, which exceeded my own expectations.

About Work

Patents

The patents I applied for while working at Kuaishou were finally published in 2021.

Returning to Beijing to Continue the Fight

Rather than saying I returned to Beijing to fight, it’s more like my failed escape from being a Beijing drifter. Regardless, I can accept everyone’s comments about me. This shows my career is suited for tier-1 cities. This is something most people cannot escape. The familiar subway, the hurried pedestrians.

Due to the wave of the internet, the “Double Reduction” policy impact, the national anti-monopoly crackdown, the capital market cooling, and the incremental user market turning into a stock market — the IT industry is now struggling. This is both good and bad. The good thing is that this industry will be continuously polished into a scientifically sustainable industry that drives economic development. The bad thing is that the difficulty and standards for finding jobs have become harder and higher.

For an iOS developer, algorithms are not used much in daily work. But somehow this industry has made algorithms a must-ask in interviews.

My Understanding of Algorithms

• Knowing is better than not knowing
• Different perspectives for different people
• Why do interviews ask about algorithms

Why is knowing better than not knowing?

Because even if you studied “Algorithms and Data Structures” in college, you more or less use some algorithms in development. I think the hardest part isn’t the algorithm itself, but after learning it, applying it — putting it into actual work or engineering to solve real problems. That’s the purpose of learning it well. If you don’t even understand it, then your colleagues can’t be on the same level as you. If they say something and you don’t understand, is that good?

Different Perspectives for Different People

For example: if in development we need to build a recommendation system based on personal preferences, if you don’t understand some mathematical concepts or algorithms, you wouldn’t know that a concept called Euclidean Distance can help us implement this system. Its formula can help us determine whether some content is close to what we like. Although what we see is a bunch of formulas or incomprehensible algorithm expressions, this is the scientific basis within the scope of algorithms that can help us solve real problems.

Because we lack the spirit of exploration for unknown knowledge, we always make excuses for not learning cutting-edge technology.

So I say that different people have different understandings when it comes to learning algorithms.

Why Do Interviews Ask About Algorithms?

First, we need to understand why some companies introduce algorithm questions into the interview process. It's to reshape this technically demanding profession, it's to educate practitioners that learning algorithms makes them more valuable. Because if our professional barrier is low, salaries won’t be high. Under a high salary system, practitioners are required to perform at a higher level. To balance the contradiction between technology and professional level, adding algorithm assessment is a scientific measure.

Let me also say something about asking algorithms during iOS developer interviews. This is a trend. If the questioning is about solving real engineering problems through algorithms, from a practical perspective, I agree. If it’s purely to test whether the interviewee has the ability by asking impractical algorithm questions, I’m opposed and strongly critical. This kind of interview is a waste of time. For an iOS developer who doesn’t use this content every day, it’s like you two are not on the same channel, deviating from the original purpose of algorithms. I don’t recommend this approach.

In summary, learning algorithms is an essential skill for programmers. You regret not having learned enough when you need it, and applying what you’ve learned is the highest level of mastering it.

Back to work.

This year, overall, I need to change and improve in terms of work content and direction. The most important thing is that actions speak louder than words. I can’t just talk about improvement every year and then have the second year’s year-end summary still say “needs improvement.” I need to actually do it — take real action. Be truth-seeking and pragmatic, seek truth from facts. No slacking off.

About Learning

This year I took several paid courses and strongly recommend them to everyone. I hope to persist in continuous learning in the future, learning science and technology.

• iOS Development Masterclass — studied 3 times
• The Beauty of Data Structures and Algorithms
• Swift Core Technologies and Practices
• HarmonyOS

This course is almost entirely practical content. Every iOS developer should take it as essential learning.

I also strongly recommend this data structures and algorithms course. Data structures go from tables to trees to graphs, and the algorithms progress from shallow to deep. Think about how many pages you’ve flipped through after buying Introduction to Algorithms.

Swift — I’m learning this for the 3rd time. After Swift 5.x, there are so many changes that I had to learn it again. Currently at 60%+ progress.

This course is the standard for the domestic operating system. Since Huawei was suppressed by the US, the Chinese people have reflected deeply, starting from basic science research and focusing on bottleneck technologies. To fulfill what I described in my 2019 year-end summary, I must complete this course in 2022.

Learning Summary

I’ve been writing year-end summaries for 4 consecutive years now, and I’m continuously filling in my knowledge blind spots. I should keenly grasp the trends in social development, so I can get ahead and learn skills others don’t yet have. Then in the future, I won’t have to worry about having a place to stand.

About Gaming

When I was in Beijing, I bought a NEOGEO mini portable game console. After drifting in Beijing for so long, I bought some small gadgets to pass the time and prevent depression. After going back home, it was snatched away by my second sister’s daughter Enhui. Consider it a gift — sigh.

In middle school, I first encountered the PS one (PlayStation ONE). Back then, I thought Sony was amazing for making gaming products. But even after working for many years, I still couldn’t bring myself to buy a PS.

Missed out on

• PS2
• PS3
• PS4
• PS4 slim
• PS4 Pro

PS5 — I can’t miss this one. If I can afford it, I’ll go for it. With the housing provident fund arriving monthly and Double 11 shopping festival, I bought my first proper game console.

Chinese version, with Hong Kong account backup to play HK region games.

After buying it, I can only say I was educated — games are so expensive! But the high price isn’t the main point. The key is that one game is 100G+, and the console can only fit 2~3 games at most. To expand storage, a PCIe 4.0 SSD m.2 format solid-state drive costs 2000+ RMB.

If I bought all the accessories, this thing would cost 10k+. I decisively gave up. My financial strength no longer allows me to play PS5.

As for the games, they’re still fun:

• Uncharted 4
• Demon’s Souls Remake
• The built-in Astro’s Playroom is really fun
• It Takes Two

These are all classic games in my opinion.

About Car Repair

From the cover, you can also see my beat-up car.

It’s a long story, but I can only advise you all: don’t buy a used car. Let me list the parts I’ve replaced since I bought this car:

• Brake discs + brake pads, front set
• Continental UC6 (215/55 R16) tires, 4 pieces
• Engine throttle valve
• Alternator belt
• Oil-gas separator
• Carbon canister solenoid valve
• Timing chain + chain guide set
• Turbo boost pipe
• Car battery
• Xenon headlights + Hella 5 lens + Hella 4 ballast set
• 4 spark plugs, replaced twice
• Cabin filter + air filter + oil filter
• Power Flex rear lower control arm polyurethane reinforced bushings
• Trunk liner panel
• Sunroof switch
• Automatic shifter switch set
• MIB 682E head unit
• Flip-logo reverse camera set
• Car floor mats set
• Front left and right window chrome trim strips
• Front control arm aluminum bracket
• Engine bottom resin shield
• Transmission-to-engine mount
• Mud flaps x 4
• Intake port carbon cleaning
• Driver-side rearview mirror assembly, complete
• Front windshield glass
• Trunk gas struts x2
• Transmission fluid
• Brake fluid
• Coolant
• Shock absorbers x 4
• Front shock springs x 2

OK, I’ll stop listing here. I can basically repair an EA888 engine now. From a coder to half a Volkswagen mechanic.

Next step, I plan to install the ELSA software on a beat-up laptop for professional inspection of Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche and other VW-group vehicles.

Let me walk you through these mechanical parts. The following are all parts replaced on my car.

Front brake discs x2

Brake pads x2

Continental tires x4

Engine throttle valve

In winter, the dashboard showed an EPC light flashing, with unstable idling and shaking. After inspection, the throttle valve signal was unreliable. In winter, cold air forms water droplets inside the throttle valve, and the hot-cold alternation causes water droplets in the intake pipe. In cold weather, the low Northeast temperatures easily cause freezing, leading to poor throttle valve opening and closing. Over time, this fatigues the throttle valve motor. I really wanted to take it apart and repair it myself, but this part costs 1700+ RMB. Very expensive, not worth replacing. Later, considering it’s a critical part that shouldn’t fail on the road, I decided to get a new one!

Alternator belt. I saw this part looking like it was about to fail. After taking it off, it was actually fine, but I replaced it anyway. I kept the old one in the car as a spare in case of problems on the road. The part didn’t cost much but is very important.

The part above is called an oil-gas separator or oil-water separator. The engine produces high-temperature gas. Since there’s oil inside the engine, the steam from the oil contains water molecules. To separate the oil from water, this part becomes very important. When I replaced it, it wasn’t actually broken — the previous part was leaking oil, making the engine covered in oil stains. I thought the engine was leaking oil, but upon inspection, this part was covered in oil. I replaced it with an improved version to reduce oil consumption.

This part is called the carbon canister solenoid valve, located near the throttle valve. It’s mainly responsible for sending the vaporized steam from the fuel tank into the combustion chamber for burning. If this part fails, the most obvious symptom is consistently high fuel consumption (of course, if gasoline evaporates away, how could it not waste fuel?). This part wasn’t broken either, but when I went to the 4S dealership, they couldn’t tell if it had a problem. After replacing it with a new one, fuel consumption dropped by 30%. So replacing with new parts does make a difference.

Timing chain. Mine is the EA888 Gen 2. This is just a reference photo. This chain must be replaced at 80~100k km. I proactively replaced it at 84,000 km. The timing chain had stretched significantly, almost reaching the preset threshold for replacement. I replaced it early to prevent premature failure. This is a core engine component. Replacing it together with the chain guide and related parts cost 2400 RMB.

Deep inside the engine, there’s a pipe connecting to the turbocharger. Because the oil-gas separator was leaking oil, this pipe was full of oil. I replaced it while I was at it. Actually, this part didn’t need replacing, but I didn’t want to see my engine covered in oil.

Fengfan lead-acid battery (good horse, good saddle; good car, Fengfan). After the EPC light came on in winter and I parked by the road, finding the throttle valve signal unreliable, I also replaced the battery. The old battery hadn’t been replaced in years and was bulging. I replaced it with a new one.

This is the complete xenon headlight set upgraded in 2020.

These are 2.0T spark plugs. I bought them myself from a certain online store — Bosch. I also bought a ratchet wrench toolkit, found a parking lot, and replaced them myself. I’m proud to say that this can be done yourself — 4 spark plugs cost less than 200. The original spark plugs were recommended for replacement by the 4S dealership at 20k km. After 20k km on my car, I replaced them with new ones myself. When I took the old ones out, they had carbon buildup. I soaked them in toilet cleaner for a day and cleaned them thoroughly — they can still be used.

Oil filter. Online it costs just over 30 (4S dealership charges 100+). If you catch a sale, brothers with cars should stock up. This is a consumable item, replaced at every 5,000 km maintenance for VW cars. I bought 3 from the Mann-Filter flagship store.

I want to emphasize one thing: some parts aren’t necessarily better from the original manufacturer than from other brands. It depends on what part. For oil filters, as long as you buy from a reputable brand store, it should be fine. It’s like buying laptop memory — is it better to buy Lenovo brand memory, or Kingston, Samsung, or SanDisk? Definitely not Lenovo! After all, they’re not a dedicated memory manufacturer.

I also stocked up on cabin air filters and engine air filters.

• Cabin filter is inside the car, responsible for filtering air for the AC. The Mahle brand is well-known.
• Engine air filter is in the engine bay, responsible for filtering air for the engine intake.

For those who don’t know cars, don’t mix these up — they’re two different things. The above 3 filters can all be replaced yourself, though the oil filter requires a special tool.

This is a polyurethane reinforced bushing. Replacing all of them on my car would cost 7000+. To try out whether these things work, on Chinese New Year’s Day 2020, when my classmate’s workplace (FAW-VW 4S dealership) was closed and quiet, I took these two bushings to the 4S shop and replaced them myself. VW cars nowadays share common chassis parts. Almost all parts are interchangeable. Let’s look at the corresponding part numbers and prices for this chassis.

I replaced the rear lower control arm PFR85-510 bushing because the original had deteriorated badly, making the car feel loose and unnatural to drive. When replacing this, both lower control arms must be replaced together. I have to criticize VW for this — the chassis design has poor extensibility and modification potential. But after replacement, the chassis immediately felt different — tight and firm, like a new car.

Note: This must be replaced with professional equipment, and after replacement, a 4-wheel alignment is required because the eccentric bolt in the suspension system is being adjusted. This bolt is specifically for adjusting the vehicle’s camber angle.

The hardest part of replacing this bushing is pressing out the old one. It’s best to have professional equipment, otherwise it’s quite difficult to remove. I managed to get it done using the repair shop’s press and some socket tools.

The trunk bottom in the photo above is a removable interior liner panel. Why replace it? In the summer, I helped relatives in the countryside with a wedding and hauled a trunk full of vegetables. Some liquid leaked into the trunk, causing a terrible smell. This thing can’t be washed, so I had to replace it with a new one.

Sunroof switch. This rarely breaks. My car’s sunroof would open on its own while driving and then close. At first, I thought the Magotan had a CO2 concentration sensor that would automatically trigger the sunroof when CO2 levels got too high to circulate air and prevent driver drowsiness. But when I discussed this with my classmate, he said VW should pay me royalties — this is a common issue. Over time, the contacts oxidize and cause poor connection. So I replaced it. FAW-VW, are you listening? I’ll apply for a patent, let’s see if you pay up.

The legendary DSG (Single Dog, Big Fool) shifter knob. The original was worn to a patina, so I got a new one.

This MIB head unit system is the component I think most deserves upgrading on this old car. It’s expensive — together with the flip-logo reverse camera and CarPlay support, it cost 5500+. The worst thing about old cars is that the head unit is laggy, with limited and outdated features, slow to adopt new technologies. But you can’t blame the old car — when it was manufactured, the iPhone 5s didn’t exist yet. However, the extensibility is poor. If a car company could produce both hardware and software, and provide a complete integration solution for in-car systems, this would be a great startup direction. Normally, you can’t integrate with the car because there are encrypted protocols inside, not universal. The one I bought is a cracked Polish import. After cracking, no password is needed — plug and play. Some features aren’t supported by this car, so they don’t work. My main goal was to have a good music system with CarPlay support.

The viable solutions to achieve these two goals are:

• Replace the head unit system
• Replace the speakers

I chose the head unit because it includes navigation.

Just replacing the head unit isn’t enough — the flip-logo reverse camera must also be replaced together. So I replaced the flip-logo reverse camera as well. This is the VW logo on the cover — it’s one of Volkswagen’s unique designs. When reversing, the logo flips open and extends a camera. Normally, pressing it opens the trunk. Don’t worry about it breaking — it’s very sturdy.

This is the window chrome trim strip, professionally called window weatherstrip. Why replace it? The rubber on the driver’s side had aged and could no longer keep rain out. This part sits right against the window glass, so I replaced it.

Lower control arm aluminum bracket. The rubber where the front lower control arm connects to the body had aged, and the rubber bushing can’t be replaced separately — the whole set must be replaced. So I replaced it directly. This is the main reason I say VW cars have poor extensibility — the aluminum bracket was fine, only the rubber aged, causing the steering wheel to have insufficient response while driving. Actually, it would be better to replace just the polyurethane reinforced bushing. Considering cost, replacing either of these separately isn’t more expensive than a single polyurethane reinforced bushing.

Engine bottom shield. This is a resin material that protects the engine oil pan from impacts with hard objects. The resin one doesn’t make noise, while a steel one can deform and affect chassis stability.

The engine-to-transmission mount. This part started making noises, so I replaced it with a new one. The one in the upper left connects the transmission and engine.

Wheel mud flaps. By the time I bought the car, they were already broken and battered. Replaced directly.

Trunk gas struts. These tend to lose elasticity in winter, possibly related to the oil fluid inside. But after 1 year of replacement, the problem persists. I don’t plan to replace them anymore.

My car requires transmission fluid replacement at 80,000 km, otherwise the warranty is void. The warranty is 10 years or 160k km, with 3 years remaining.

Brake fluid. In winter, I noticed my car couldn’t brake properly. I went to the shop for inspection and found the brake fluid had too much water content, triggering a red warning. Must be replaced for safety.

Coolant. This wasn’t replaced when I bought the car. I replaced it early for fear of the radiator being too dirty. I still have half a bottle in the car.

This summer, the car went over some rough roads and I found all 4 shock absorbers leaking oil. Replaced all 4, along with the shock springs.

The shock springs had been compressed by more than 1cm due to stress. Replaced together to ensure safety.

Car Repair Summary

The above is the complete list of parts I replaced after buying this used car. Seeing so many parts, you now understand why used cars are sold cheap! These parts were all due for replacement. The total cost of all these parts plus the original purchase price is enough to buy a new top-spec Golf. My current feeling is that this car has been restored to near peak condition. Although it cost a lot of money and time, it also turned me from a programmer into a multi-talented handyman. Sometimes car repair is actually fun. Cultivating it as a hobby is nice.

Summary

This year-end summary is scattered and not very technical. This year was quite numb, with less learning content. Actually, I also privately learned Java but still couldn’t form a learning system and use it at work. I’ll try to build something after learning other frameworks. The experience of returning home changed my perspective and educated me that I should continue to put down roots in Beijing and be a new generation migrant worker. Only by working hard from 0 to 1 can I live well.

See you in 2022.