The story begins in 1977 in Chenjiawa Village in northern Shaanxi. After Wang Jianguo's father dies unexpectedly, the five siblings struggle to survive in harsh conditions. As Wang Jianguo leads his younger siblings through famine and backbreaking labor, and they experience the resumption of the college entrance exams and land reform, the story follows their struggle on the loess plateau and the ways family bonds and love endure and grow amid hardship.
