An autobiographical novel, The Mountain Village Family, whose protagonist is a man named Du Xiaoshan. Starting in 1955, it follows his life as he fails to complete school three times and teaches himself while working the land. When his family is thousands of yuan in debt, he becomes a factory worker and eventually rises to a management position, then gets into the Central Party School. He throws himself into farm work from the age of ten to support his family. After starting work, he devotes himself to learning, and later helps his family enter business as self-employed operators.
