This whimsical childhood memoir by Pang Yuliang, the newly crowned Lu Xun Literature Prize winner, delves into the author’s intimate recollections of his childhood, where the air was always abuzz with the sounds of bugs.

The author is the youngest son in his family, nicknamed "Lao Hai" by his parents. This collection paints vivid portraits of the author’s difficult childhood with prose pieces like "Mothers Are All Monk Tang", "The Bee and the Weird Child," "People Bullied by Dragonflies," "Many Bugs, Lots of Him," and "Bugs Know Everything." Confined by loneliness, Lao Hai encountered both solace and life's complexity within the fascinating world of tiny insects. These creatures, shedding their exoskeletons in a transformative process, mirror Lao Ha's own blossoming amidst the earthy embrace of the North Jiangsu Plain. Every vignette and character is deeply rooted in this land. Written in a gentle and distinctive prose, this memoir is imbued with humor, warmth of familial bonds, and a profound love for the countryside. Vivid descriptions of over thirty different insects bring his childhood recollections to life, capturing the essence of a quintessentially Chinese upbringing and serving as a testament to the beauty of the Chinese language itself.