In the 1970s, railway worker Zhao Jianguo and coal miner Li Xiuying were introduced by a matchmaker. They fell for each other at first sight and pledged themselves for life, beginning six years of exchanging letters and living apart. As time passed, their daughter Zhao Jingtong grew up amid the tide of the new century, facing the challenges of her era: her husband losing his job and their savings being stolen in an investment scam. Both generations endured their own share of hardship and exhaustion in the currents of their times. Yet the responsibility and resilience of her parents’ generation, like a lantern passed through the dark, and their almost stubborn devotion to family and promises, quietly illuminated the next generation’s uncertain path. This is more than a family chronicle: it is a heartfelt ode to how ordinary Chinese people weather sweeping change with love and perseverance.
