"Cheng Nan Jiu Shi" is a collection of stories and memory about the people and ambience at a poor corner in the south part of Beijing around 1950s. The book reproduced the common life of the poor and small people who struggled in the alleys(hutong)and multi-family courtyards(dazayuan). These stories reflect my hard feelings, sympathy, as well as nostalgia. The stories in the book are a true illustration of the history. The readers will find themselves crossing both space and time and landing in a special coordinate system. As for these poor and lower class people, each of them was just like a small boat floating on the sea, and could be buried at any time by the huge wave.