Sixteen-year-old Su Nian grew up taking root in the muddy soil of the countryside. She had no impressive background or decent education. Her sixteen years of life had held nothing but muddy field paths, fresh mountain breezes, and endless hard work. Clutching the 236 yuan she had painstakingly saved, she walked dozens of kilometers to town in worn-out cloth shoes, then squeezed onto a rumbling green train bound for an unfamiliar big city. Behind her lay her impoverished homeland; ahead stretched a vast, unknown road.
