Hello, readers. I’m Liu Muqing. I’ve never tried writing about rural life in a bygone era before. I began this book to commemorate a dear relative of a friend: a bond too deep for words, a family tie that could never last a lifetime, and a life destined to spend its later years steeped in damp memories. This novel tells the story of that relative’s life. It is filled with twists of fate, questions of filial duty and neglect, the unfathomable nature of people, and the cruel indifference of the world. Above all, it is about a fate we cannot control.
(My words can’t truly capture her inner world. Some feelings and moods simply can’t be put into words, but I’ll do my best to express them. Thank you all for your support and companionship.)
Highly recommended. The author wrote about that era, those things, and those people very well, very touching, and very real.