Reading a moving autobiography by author Shen Ts'ung-wen helped him cope with the difficult situation that fate and his talent had plunged him into, and Hou soon began work on "The Boys From Fengkuei".
只是千頭萬緒，一時不知如何整理、歸納，他的工作情緒因此陷入低潮。這時，朱天文給了他一本書「沈從文自傳」。「讀完後我很感動。