In the Wutong Courtyard

In the early 1980s, the ancient city of "Linzhou", a Wutong Courtyard with a long history and crowded residents, ushered in a turning point in its destiny. There are three families living next to each other in the courtyard: the Song family, the male owner Song Weiguo is a master chef of the state-owned porcelain factory, he is an upright man, and firmly believes that "the factory is the home"; the Xu family, the male owner Xu Pengcheng is a salesperson in the factory, with a quick mind and a keen sense of smell; the Wu family, the widowed Aunt Zhao and her two children set up a stall at the entrance of the courtyard to do a small business, struggling to make a living. The story begins with the last welfare housing allocation in the porcelain factory. Song Weiguo fully thought that he could be assigned a new house based on his qualifications and improve the predicament of a family of five living in two houses, but he unexpectedly lost the election. The spots fell to those who were more "in need of management". At the same time, the spring breeze of reform came to Linzhou, the porcelain factory's efficiency began to decline, and cracks appeared in the "iron rice bowl". Xu Pengcheng was the first to sense the change. He took advantage of the sales opportunity to get in touch with Guangdong's emerging private porcelain factories and overseas orders, and his mind became active. He had a heated argument with Song Weiguo, who was determined to maintain his integrity and firmly believed that difficulties were temporary, representing two completely different paths. In the end, Xu Pengcheng decided to leave his job without pay, and with his accumulated contacts and experience, he co-founded a small ceramics trading company. The Xu family's "going to the sea" threw huge rocks in the Wutong courtyard. Envy, jealousy, and criticism follow. The life of the Xu family has improved visibly. They bought a refrigerator and a color TV, which aroused the yearning of the younger generation such as Song Weiguo's son Song Dong and the Wu family's daughter Wu Xiujuan.