They called on every connection at their disposal to get back to the cities, but by that time a decade of their lives had been wasted. They had not developed the skills to be competitive in the urban job market, yet the pressures and decisions of adult life were upon them.
而想盡一切辦法回到都市的所謂知識青年，被耽誤的已經被耽誤了，他們沒有競爭的能力，又得重新面臨人生的選擇。在一九八二年獲得大陸全國短篇小說獎的《本次列車終站》中，王安憶就是藉著這樣進退不得的悲劇來批判文革。