Paper Making

In the 1950s, Wang Yundun was born in a precarious farm family in Wangjiawan, Fumin Town, Qiushan County, Bashu. He was born "not as long as a winter melon and as short as a gourd", had never read a book, had a dull temper, was a bachelor all his life, and had never even smelled a woman's breath. After clearing wasteland and farming extensively, the harvest was poor. He walked unsteadily and was nicknamed "Paper-beating Dundun" by his neighbors. His father died when he was seven years old, and he and his old mother depended on each other. The eldest brother was a soldier, but he was famous for his "ears". He was strictly controlled by his wife, who rarely took care of his mother and son after the separation. His life was "not as good as that of a dog". He was worried from meal to meal, and only the warmth of his old mother supported him. After his mother died of illness, Wang Yundun's life completely lost its anchor, and his life became increasingly chaotic. The spring breeze of reform and opening up blew into the mountains. In the late 1980s, at the instigation of his sister-in-law, he followed the wave of migrant workers out of Bashu and worked under a contractor to build roads and pave gravel, doing the hardest work and earning the meager hard-earned money. He lived frugally and hid his money in a cloth bag close to his body. However, every time he returned home, his sister-in-law confiscated all the money on the grounds of "escrow" and "family use." Time has worn down his body, and the old and frail Wang Yundun can no longer carry a shovel. Finally, his sister-in-law sent him to a nursing home. In endless loneliness and silence, this man, who was manipulated by fate like a piece of paper, lived a humble and arduous life. The novel uses his fate as a mirror to reflect the vicissitudes of Bashu countryside for half a century, as well as the sadness of the low-level people who are unable to struggle in the torrent of the times.