In Ha Jin’s short story “Alive,” a businessman, husband, and father named Tong Guhan husband is attempting to search for a job for his daughter and an apartment for his son. Tong is also up for the position of Vice Director of the cannery and one morning, he takes a train trip from Muji City to Taifu to his company. He hopes receiving this new promotion will provide him with a new life full of opportunities, which is revealed in a quote which states “Tong Guhan was a simple man, not very interested in power. But recently he realized that if he were the vice director, he could have moved into a new apartment long ago and said to his son,“Prepare for the wedding!” and he could also have written to his daughter, “Forget veterinary medicine and come back home. I’ll get you a residence card and find you a good job here.” Obviously, the solutions to both problems depended on whether his promotion would materialize in time” (Jin 19). However, he soon finds himself in the middle of an earthquake. I found this to be an extremely moving story, especially looking back at the beginning of 2020 and realizing how much we take life for granted and how fluid life is. This pandemic was a reminder so often, we just expect all of these things to happen in our lives, simply because they always have. However, life is ever-changing, and the truth is, you never know when something could suddenly be interrupted or taken away.