A Life of Wind and Rain

The novel follows Cao Zhili, his son Cao Zhongshi, and their family through several decades of life, from the 1960s to the early 21st century. As Party branch secretary of Quanshui Brigade, Cao Zhili is upright and conscientious in his work. Unable to turn a blind eye to unfair practices, he offends certain people. During the Cultural Revolution, he is denounced and struggled against. He is later removed from office twice and reinstated twice. When the early years of reform and opening up arrive, Cao Zhili finds himself unable to keep up with the times, so he resigns of his own accord and settles down to farming.

The other protagonist, Cao Zhongshi, becomes a teacher upon graduating from high school at the age of seventeen. Two years later, dissatisfied with the state of affairs, he leaves teaching and enters politics. His attempt to develop the local pig farming industry goes wrong, causing significant losses to the local government. Though he acted with good intentions, his mistake gets him removed from office by his superiors. Cao Zhongshi then leaves politics to go into business. He first makes some money taking on a power plant construction project, but a major accident on a later project wipes out his entire fortune and sends his life crashing to rock bottom. Even so, he borrows money to pay every worker in full and refuses to leave anyone unpaid, earning their praise. Thanks to his good relationships and kind heart, his business begins to recover and goes on to grow even further.