Footnotes (revised)

The story is told from the perspective of a child named Lai Jun, and tells the story of his childhood in a squatter resettlement area. The author describes in detail Lai Jun's childhood, his classmates, his education, his parents and neighbors' parents, his friends, his grandfather's uncles and brothers, and the space and atmosphere in which he grew up, which constitute Lai Jun's simple coming-to-age story. The icons of collective memory in the book, such as cowboy, Old Master Q, white rabbit candy, Chrysanthemum brand tank tops, Red A brand plastic bucket, White Cat brand washing powder, Rinnai brand gas range, Garden brand boxed biscuits, treasure beads, Royal Cusson brand bath soap, the Japanese TV show Robocon, Code Mars anime, and even the interstitial dialogue of TV news reports: "Here’s sports update brought to you by Ng Fong-wing", are deeply resonant among readers who grew up in that era.