ChaoMiao (朝苗) was born in ChengDu (成都) in the province of SiChuan. There she goes to school， both their parents are postal workers without much ambition. AthomeeverythingisOK，butnotveryexcitingorstimulating.Sheisinlovewith books， reading all day. But because she only reads and otherwise does not learn， herfinal grades are not enough to be able to attend a university. She would be rejected everywhere.
Her boyfriend lures her to ShenZhen： “There you can do everything， be everything！” She wants to continue learning， studying， finding out about the Chinese literature which is so rich！ But while her boyfriend is determined， graduates on an engineering school and finds a job， she is still searching and cannot find her way.
Her friend has soon enough of feeding her， his income is not princely， but sufficient， yet he wants to get more and in that feels restrained by his girlfriend. He kicks her out. Now she is on the road， must immediately find an apartment and speaks first to her friends. One invites her to sleep at her apartment during the first few nights， but soon she has to find her own place.
Her friends ask around， one of them knows a young woman who lives with three others in a larger apartment， one of them is just moving out， a room becomes available. The room is a few square metres wide， equipped with very basic furniture， but it is enough， ChaoMiao is satisfied.
Her three flatmates are working， she now has to search even more determined， so much is obvious to her. The four of them talk a lot during evenings， sometimes they meet with young men， alone or all together. Other young men join them， one of them has already one or two eyes on ChaoMiao. He also has no regular job. They talk.
He proposes to start up a business together. “What business？” – “We can sell fruits on the street！” – “Where we should get the fruits？” – “I have a friend who is working for a wholesaler， we buy there in the morning， we drive around and sell on the street.”
So they set out， with a bike that has a front display case and a stable stand. Soon they buy a second bike and find a road in NanShan (南山， a quarter of ShenZhen)， where they gain a loyal clientèle. ChaoMiao finds that she has taken it well – she can read for hours while she is waiting for customers， only when it rains， she has a problem. But then they have no customers， either.
To accommodate for the rain they have to think up something. But first there is a little different turn： ChaoMiao moves out
from the young women’s residential community， and with her fruit dealer business partner she has found a cheap simple two-room apartment in NanShan， they move in together and ponder whether they should marry. “Let’s wait a little， we don’t know each other well enough yet.” – “But I mean it serious”， her partner says. “Wait， I won’t run away，” she says.
It goes on like that for a few years， they save very carefully (except for the books which ChaoMiao buys and devours but resells in second-hand book-stores). One day per week ChaoMiao visits her favourite temple， she insisted on once per week not having to be on the road and selling fruit.
On this day she is always found in the Book City (书城 ShuCheng)， the great， fantastic book-store in NanShan which is her temple. On four floors is offered here everything the book lover is looking for， whether old or young， male or female， child or adolescent， lover of old or new books， preferring digital or analogue， and interested in no matter what literary or technical specialisation， up to musical instruments， music sheets， CDs.
She would like to come here on Sundays， too， for then there are the most interesting things going on， but on Sundays they have the most customers on the road， meaning they have to wage priorities.
Like all Chinese， she loves to poke around in this Book City and to spend hours sitting on the floor and first carefully
The literature-addicted fruit seller at her mobile fruit business van.
Children (and not just children) sit down in the breathtakingly large bookstore “Book City” (ShuCheng)， on the floor or in chairs， or they stand around， reading extensively before they decide.
examining today’s pre-selection of books. To do this， they want to be read in peace！ She is by far not the only one here， everyone reads his or her books in advance a bit before buying.
And on Sundays the corridors are full of children reading， chattering， running back and forth， and that she finds so beautiful but can rarely enjoy (only if it rains quite awfully). It is perfectly normal， no seller would intervene here， not even against children at play (“Hush， will you be quiet， this is a book-store， you have to be quiet！” This is a sentence that does not translate into Chinese and does not exist in Chinese).
She buys at least one book a week which must be thick， or maybe three thinner ones. For she has much time for reading when waiting on customers， she reads everything of Chinese literature， ancient or modern.
After several years， the two fruit traders decide to open a “real” business： They buy a small minivan， not new， but used by a former shady taxi driver， a neighbour who cannot drive any more because of a back ailment. They get it for cheap cash， remove the two rear seats， insert wooden boards， buy five as much fruit， present it in the back and position themselves at the same intersection where they know their regular customers.
Now they can sit in the car during rainfalls， either in front or in the back under the open back door， sales are increasing. ChaoMiao can indulge her passion and read if the customers do not flock. Until late into the night.
ChaoMiao may be atypically fond of literature， but reading is a passion for most of the Chinese. She knows other road entrepreneurs， they see each other， they meet， but the various business groups keep to themselves. The literature-minded among the road entrepreneurs read for themselves， ChaoMiao at her fruit car， the bicycle carriers on their vehicles. The bicycle carrier entrepreneurs/card players meet on Sundays and public holidays and play cards among themselves， as well as the waste disposal contractors keep to themselves， though they are competitors， yes！