A rusty cowbell bears witness to the stormy life of Liu Laowu, a young man from a mountainous area in southern Sichuan, who spanned seventy years.
In the autumn of 1949, seven-year-old Liu Laowu ran away from his hometown for fear of punishment because he let go of a landlord's cattle. At Sanchakou, he was adopted by a landowner named Li who had no heirs, and was named Liu Huaishan, where he spent five rare and tender years. However, the land reform storm hit, and the Li family was liquidated. Liu Huaishan and his "landlord parents" who adopted him fell into the abyss, relying on each other amidst the suffering of criticism, hunger and loss of dignity.
He relied on an account book that recorded "favor debts" and his barbering skills to survive in turbulent times; he and the kind-hearted and tenacious Xiuying built a family in a hopeless situation; he took the risk of "pressing pigs" and traveled to other places to work, and almost died several times, just to give his family a full meal.
After the reform and opening up, Liu Huaishan relied on hard work and integrity to step by step from abject poverty to food and clothing, and witnessed his son becoming a talented person in school and ushering in a truly good life. The rusty cowbell and a yellowed "favor account book" that he has always treasured have become his password to interpret the suffering and tenderness in his life - some things seem to be lost, but they echo in the depths of his life forever in another way.
This is a story about fear and courage, loss and gain, suffering and warmth. It is an epic of life written by an ordinary Chinese person with the simplest kindness and tenacity in the ups and downs of the great era.
