The 1970s: I Support My Whole Family by Writing Novels

[Rebirth, Period Farming, Getting Rich Through Writing, Family Growth, Close Sibling Bonds, A Low-Key Powerhouse]

When she woke, former publishing house editor Cheng Zhaohua had returned to 1971, to the village where she’d been sent down. Both her parents were dead, leaving behind three younger siblings, gaunt with hunger. With nothing but bare walls and a bleak future, she clutched the literary treasure trove in her memories from her previous life, copied an excerpt from Border Town onto rough paper, and walked thirty li along mountain roads to mail it.

When three hundred jin of nationwide food coupons arrived at the village entrance, the whole village was in an uproar!

Writing under the pen name “Idle Wanderer of the Hills,” she wrote tirelessly. Every essay and short story moved its readers, and the royalties kept rolling in. She not only made sure her siblings had enough to eat and warm clothes to wear, but also paid for their education. Editors from the capital came knocking, eager to recruit her with an urban household registration and a secure position, but she smiled and shook her head. “My home is here. I’m not going anywhere.”

Rumors and hardships couldn’t stop her, and adversity couldn’t extinguish her original resolve. With her royalties, she built a reading corner and a primary school, giving children in the mountains a chance to feel the warmth of words.

Years later, when a reporter asked why she was willing to remain anonymous, Cheng Zhaohua leaned against an old locust tree and watched children running all over the mountains. She smiled faintly. “I’ve never been a writer. I’m just a big sister who doesn’t want children to go hungry.”