In the spring of 1995, a heavy industrial city in Northeast China. The chimney that had stood for forty years was still smoking. But everyone knew it was about to stop.
A bankruptcy notice from Hongxing Machinery Factory shattered the lives of more than 8,000 employees.
Du Jianguo, 51 years old, is an eighth-level fitter. He has worked for 34 years in exchange for 23,400 yuan in buyout money. He devoted half his life to the factory, but in the end he found that there was nothing left except the craftsmanship in his hands. He opened a repair shop behind the vegetable market, trying to use a wrench to restore the dignity of a home.
Qin Hong, 38 years old, is an accountant in a factory. She was the first to see reality clearly. From factory accountant to tailor stall owner, from abacus to sewing needle and thread, she disassembled herself bit by bit and sewed it up bit by bit. But there are some things that needle and thread cannot sew - such as the man who hangs around the stall every day, and the eyes that stare at her with other meanings.
Chen Xiaoyong, 24 years old, is a young worker who replaced his father in the factory. He took the buyout money and boarded the green train heading south, thinking that Guangzhou was full of opportunities. What fate prepared for him was a Sichuan girl, a fight, and a single bed in a detention center.
This is a novel about "loss". Losing your job, losing your identity, losing what you believed in for decades. But it is also a novel about "searching" - looking for a way out, looking for dignity, looking for the breath to stand up again on the ruins.
That chimney eventually fell. But those people are still standing.
