Having experienced the biting chill of Beijing's hustle and the gentle night breeze of Nanning, I've drifted from north to south. The cities have changed, people have come and gone, but the technology in my hands has remained my steadiest support and the only certainty I can firmly grasp. The line from The Pursuit of Happyness — “If you have a dream, you gotta protect it.” — has been my creed along the way.

From first learning about routing and switching in university, to diving into the wave of cloud computing, and then gradually delving deeper into the cloud-native track, nine years have passed step by step, through trials, retrospect, and moving forward. The ocean of technology seems boundless, but holding onto this conviction, I fear no loss of direction — for the so-called smooth path is, in essence, paved by one's own footsteps.

Perhaps it's age, but lately I find myself often reminiscing about childhood. Maybe it's because I'm unconsciously drifting away from that initial aspiration?

I still remember my childhood fascination with tinkering with electronics, squatting in the neighbor's yard fixing TVs and adjusting satellite dishes, fingers dusty, forehead sweaty, until the sound from the TV or a screen full of channels brought a surge of joy from the depths of my heart. Thinking of it now still feels vividly delightful. Back then, I didn't understand what technology was; I just found immense satisfaction in fixing "broken things." This naive happiness became the most precious spark of technology buried in my heart. I also remember staying up late sweating over unsolvable math problems, determined to find the answer. Growing up, I realized that not every problem in this world has a solution.

"Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things." I've always remembered this line from The Shawshank Redemption. Those who lose hope are like trapped in a cage, perpetually questioning "the meaning of life." No matter what unforeseen things the future holds, retaining a sliver of hope is, I believe, a redemption for oneself.

Over the years, whenever hitting a bottleneck or a wall, I recall a saying: "Your own existence is far more worthy of staying than all the scenery you pass by." Upon reflection, it truly is. That original passion from childhood, of unhurriedly fixing things, is the most deserving landscape to reside in. From the kid helping neighbors fix things to the practitioner striving in the cause of socialism today, the path of technology changes, but the starlight in my heart remains as it was at the beginning.

Time drifts, technology is the boat. May that childhood spark forever burn quietly between the lines of code and the seas of cloud.