During the harsh family planning policy in the 1990s, Zhao Xiaoqing (formerly known as Sansan) was born into the Zhao family in rural Hubei. Her birth was not only not the son her parents expected, but also became the last straw for this poor family. In order to avoid huge fines and the fate of having her house demolished, the infant Xiao Qing was forced to flee to Hankou overnight with her parents Zhao Liangde and Li Chunhua, while her two sisters were fostered in relatives' homes. When he first arrived in Hankou, the pressure of life and the harsh environment caused the exhausted Li Chunhua to lose control and kick her in the middle of the night, leaving a permanent scar on Xiaoqing's forehead and becoming an incurable pain in her mother's heart.
This scar is the first mark of Xiaoqing's difficult childhood. A lost experience gave her the unexpected formal name "Zhao Xiaoqing", which also showed her precocious vitality. During the short summer vacation, she and her sisters went on a "treasure hunt" to pick up vegetables left behind in the market, and tasted the rare sweetness and warmth of reunion in a barren life. However, after her sisters left, Xiaoqing was more often locked in a dark rental house, or looked for "treasures" alone in the junk piles of scrapyards, and sobbed herself to sleep alone.
As his father's job changed, Xiaoqing's world moved from the scrapyard to his mother's roadside vegetable stall. Here, she witnessed the most real struggle of the lower class - the brutal eviction and confiscation by urban management, and her mother's panic-stricken escape due to fear and survival instinct. In the turbulent city of Hankou in the 1990s, Zhao Xiaoqing grew up tenaciously and perceived the world ignorantly. This is a story about scars, survival, and finding tiny rays of light in a gloomy reality.
Reader comments
A true reflection of the difficult life of little people in the 1990s
From the perspective of a little girl growing up, it records the hard work of a family in the 1990s. Although there is no golden finger, it is not happy, but the success is the smooth flow and delicate emotions!
A hard life tempers a strong life, with escape-wandering-rooting as the main thread. It tells the story of a family's struggle, growth and protection in the 1990s. It has a sense of time, as if I have lived my childhood all over again.
The heavy handwriting depicts the suffering life in a true and realistic way.
I like reading articles like this that are close to life, full of childhood memories!
More realistic and simple, I like reading this kind of books
A true reflection of the difficult life of little people in the 1990s From the perspective of a little girl growing up, it records the hard work of a family in the 1990s. Although there is no golden finger, it is not happy, but the success is the smooth flow and delicate emotions!
A hard life tempers a strong life, with escape-wandering-rooting as the main thread. It tells the story of a family's struggle, growth and protection in the 1990s. It has a sense of time, as if I have lived my childhood all over again.
The heavy handwriting depicts the suffering life in a true and realistic way.
I like reading articles like this that are close to life, full of childhood memories!
More realistic and simple, I like reading this kind of books