This is the extraordinary story of an ordinary rural woman’s struggle over half a century.
In 1985, Lin Xiumei earned top marks and won admission to the county teachers’ college, becoming the first girl from her village to leave the fields behind. She fell in love with and married Chen Zhiyuan, a civil servant, and supported him as he started a business. But just as his career took off, he betrayed her. After their divorce, she became a single mother.
In 2005, her daughter was accepted into a prestigious university in Shanghai, and Xiumei resolutely quit her job and moved there. Starting out in real estate sales, she seized the opportunities of the times with her keen business sense. Within a few years, she owned six properties and had a net worth of tens of millions. After remarrying the kindhearted Zhang Guoqiang and having a son, she thought happiness was finally within reach, only for her husband to fall gravely ill. Xiumei spent everything she had trying to save him, but in the end she lost both him and her fortune, and was left a million yuan in debt.
Her life hit rock bottom, but she refused to give in. She worked to repay her debts, started a street stall, and returned to the real estate market. In two years, she paid off what she owed and made a fresh start in the county town. She raised a daughter who earned a PhD from Fudan University and a son who attended a Project 211 university, cared for her late husband’s parents, and won respect through her resilience and kindness.
This is an epic tale of a woman’s independence and strength, and a hymn to living with hope. It reminds us that no matter what fate brings, as long as we never give up, our own spring will eventually arrive.
