A Life Like Yellow Dust

[Period Setting + Coal Miners + A Life of Hardship] Handsome Er Bing is the most eye-catching cowherd on the loess plateau. His strong build and booming singing voice win him admiring glances from the village girls. He does everything he can to support his family and raises five children, but Xiuyun dies in a traffic accident while attending a market fair. While working in a coal mine, Er Bing suffers a head injury and gradually loses his intellectual abilities, yet he grits his teeth and raises the children to adulthood. When the children finally grow up, they start families of their own and scheme against one another, even coming to blows over his meager savings. On a cold winter’s day, Er Bing sits alone outside his dilapidated cave dwelling. Listening to the distant sound of an argument, he closes his eyes for the last time.