Qin Ming is an orphan who grew up eating meals provided by kind neighbors. During the Down to the Countryside Movement of the 1970s, fourteen-year-old Qin Ming was taken in as a sworn younger brother by a young woman sent down to the countryside. She helped arrange his schooling and marriage, and the two formed a deep bond. After she returned to the city, Qin Ming often visited his sworn elder sister there, and their families stayed in touch. Her daughter, Su Denger, didn't like Qin Ming coming around, especially when their home was facing demolition. She was even more resentful of his supposed visits to see her mother, fearing that her mother might get carried away and share some of the demolition compensation with him. Years later, when she learned that Qin Ming's house in his small county town was also due to be demolished, she suddenly became exceptionally friendly toward him, because Qin Ming's son was still single...
