Black Soil People

This article tells the story of the lives of ordinary families in the Northeast in the 1970s. Through the daily life of the Liu family and their neighbors, it slowly unfolds to readers a long scroll of product resources and history on the Northeast plain like the Riverside Scene during the Qingming Festival. The main plot of this book is about the family of Liu Liye and Zhang Shulan. Zhang Shulan lost her mother in childhood and was abused by her stepmother, so she was forced to live in her uncle's house, where her uncle made the final decision. She married into the Liu family at the age of 16 and became the daughter-in-law who worked as a cook for the family. She followed the life philosophy of "I would rather suffer the body than the heat on my face." After her father-in-law passed away and the Liu brothers separated, she once again took on the important responsibilities of the Liu family, supporting the old lady and becoming the guarantee of the harmony of the Liu family. The story about Liu Liye's brothers and neighbors is the sub-line of the book, which is mutually dependent on the main line and enriches the big tree of "Black Earth Family". In the incident of Fen Qiucai, Liao Er told the story of the history and personnel of the Gaojiazi village. The Gaojiazi was composed of pioneers and ginseng diggers who traveled to Guandong, as well as the Liu family, who apparently fled famine, but actually did not want to provide military supplies to the Japanese. In the chapter of Liu Licheng's memories, the sacrifices and contributions made by people on the black soil to the country are reproduced. The old aunt of the Liu family died of illness because she was worried about her son Zhong Weiguo, who had never been heard from. This is also a major foreshadowing of the whole story. This foreshadowing is shown in the last chapter. Zhong Weiguo returned home decades later to pay homage to his parents before revealing that he served in the special forces. Another foreshadowing was also revealed in this chapter. Zhong Weiguo's biological father was an underground member of the Chinese Communist Party lurking in the Kuomintang army. This shows the love of family and country in the love between children and children in "Black Earth Family". The first half of "Black Earth Family" has always shown the harmony and happiness of the Liu family. After Zhang Shulan overspent her health and became ill from overwork, the balance of family harmony tilted. After the old lady went to Liu Lichen's home for retirement, conflicts arose in the family, and this conflict reached its climax in the chapter "Outbreak". This book warns future generations: Don't leave behind in life "the regret that your children want to support you, but your relatives don't wait for you." Zhang Shulan's period from her serious illness to her death was the lowest point in the book. The lives of several motherless children were very difficult. At the end of the book, the book uses jumping writing to explain the growth and life of Zhang Shulan's seven children. Their brothers and sisters helped each other, went through the trough, and now live very well, creating a modern version of a harmonious family where blood is thicker than water.