Starting in Weizi Village

After failing the college entrance exam, Chen Shanhe returns to Weizi Village in southwestern Shandong. He thinks he’ll be trapped for life on this patch of yellow earth, but soon finds himself swept up in a tide of change. A century-long drought sparks violent clashes over water. His proposal to “draw lots to divide the water” temporarily settles the dispute, but also pulls him into the turbulence of the times. As the call for the household responsibility system rings out, he becomes the village’s only “educated man” and a key figure in surveying the land and overseeing its distribution. Yet the road ahead is far rougher than he imagined: the open confrontations and covert attacks of clan factions, a Japanese army poison gas depot discovered underground, a provincial inspection team arriving without fanfare, and even malicious obstruction from overseas markets. Every challenge pushes him into the eye of the storm. From governing a single village to helping an entire county flourish, Chen Shanhe uses knowledge and conscience to write the story of an idealist striving at the grassroots, across fields of rippling wheat. The story begins in Weizi Village, but responsibility and growth have no end.