In the 1950s, Chen Shouye, the owner of the dye house in Qingxi Town, paid great attention to "showing up" all his life - the plaque should be new, the clothes should be clean, and the craftsmanship should be refined. Even if his family was poor, he still had to maintain the dignity of "Yulong Dye House". A cooperative was established, and traditional craftsmanship encountered the impact of industrialization. He was pushed to the forefront due to the "fading cloth" incident. Faced with the frame-up of the speculator Boss Sun and the pragmatism of his son Chen Jianguo, he turned the tide with his responsibility and ingenuity.
"Pretending" is not hypocrisy, but a way for the people at the bottom to protect their dignity in the midst of change. From "pretending" to "pretending to be submissive," the Chen family's father and son completed their spiritual inheritance amidst the conflict. The novel depicts Jiangnan scenery and dyeing and weaving techniques with delicate brushstrokes, showing the profound resonance between individual destiny and the changes of the times, and questioning the boundaries between reality and decency.
