Deliveryman and author Zhang Sai (first from right) speaks at the "Spring Reading" event hosted by the Global Times at Guangcheng Academy in Beijing on April 20. Photo: Cui Meng/GT

By day, Zhang Sai weaves through the congested streets of Wuhan, Central China's Hubei Province, on his delivery scooter. By night, he slips into a different world - one of books and words - a gentle cadence that has ordered his life for more than 20 years.

Speaking at a Global Times "Spring Reading" event at Guangcheng Academy in Beijing on April 20, deliveryman and author Zhang reflected on how books have shaped his imagination and his everyday work.

"My life sounds like some kind of ideal story," Zhang said, referring to the idea of working by day and writing by night. "But it has actually been like this since I first entered the factory more than 20 years ago."

Born in rural area of Central China's Henan Province, Zhang said his reading habit began in childhood, when his mother kept classic Chinese literature at home. In an era with limited entertainment options, books became his main window to the outside world.

At 16, he left home to work in factories in South China's Guangdong Province, carrying a copy of Chinese scholar and writer Qian Zhongshu's Fortress Besieged. The novel's humor and literary style left a lasting impression and influenced his later writing.

Years later, Zhang worked in manufacturing and began documenting his experiences, eventually producing the nonfiction book Dreaming Beyond the Factory, published in 2025.

According to Zhang, reading has also shaped how he experiences his delivery work in unexpected ways. On one delivery route, Zhang recalled entering a residential complex where buildings were named not with numbers, but with literary-style Chinese names. One building, he said, was called "Xiaoxiang Pavilion," a reference that immediately reminded him of Dream of the Red Chamber. In the book, the male protagonist Jia Baoyu lives in the Grand View Garden, also known as Daguanyuan.

"For a delivery worker, it made finding addresses much harder," he said. "Usually you rely on maps or AI tools. But because I had read Dream of the Red Chamber, I started imagining those buildings like the ones in the Grand View Garden. Then I thought, if I were delivering food to Jia Baoyu, I would definitely get lost."

He added that while reading once helped him make sense of literature, it now helps him interpret real-world experiences.

Despite working long hours, Zhang continues to write at night, saying his reading habit remains unchanged and central to his identity.

"Reading is like a window," he said. "It lets me see a wider world and enriches my inner life."