The novel is divided into two volumes.
The first volume focuses on Huilai's story before and after he starts a family at twenty-one.
The second volume continues with Xiaolei's story, from birth until he turns twenty-one.
In a remote village, Xiaolei is a lonely left-behind child. His parents' faces have grown blurry in his memories, and he can only catch the sound of their voices over the phone. His mother, Lili, works hard far from home, but she was unfortunate enough to marry Huilai, a live-in son-in-law with a gambling addiction.
Xiaolei's maternal grandparents are old-fashioned traditionalists. They married through an introduction and have struggled through life together. They argue constantly, and the clatter of pots and pans and their shouting have become part of everyday life. When his grandfather gets drunk, he loses control, while his grandmother refuses to back down. Their quarrels echo through the streets.
Xiaolei was once lively and cheerful, but in this oppressive environment, filled with arguments, his smile gradually fades. He grows withdrawn, learns to read people's moods, and becomes a boy of few words. He silently bears it all, longing deep down for warmth and peace, but can only wait in loneliness for his fate to change.
