The first installment in the Youth trilogy, A Bond That Cannot Be Broken is an emotional novel spanning several decades. Beginning in a small Jiangnan county, it tells of the growing up and entanglements of three childhood friends, Han Qingchun, Wang Caixia, and Wu Danian, as the times change.
The story begins in Qingjiang, a small county, in the early 1980s, at the dawn of reform and opening up. Though poor, young Han Qingchun is hardworking and eager to learn. He forms a deep friendship with his classmates Wang Caixia and Wu Danian. As they reach adolescence, Wang Caixia secretly falls for Han Qingchun, while Wu Danian quietly loves her. After graduating from middle school, Han Qingchun is forced to drop out because of a family crisis and heads north to find work. In Beijing, he meets and falls in love with Luo Muying, a Peking University student, but the disparity in their backgrounds and her family's opposition force them apart. After returning home, Han Qingchun becomes a teacher and adopts an abandoned baby, Han Xiao, whom he raises to adulthood. Meanwhile, Luo Muying dies in a car accident while protecting her daughter.
Back in their hometown, Wang Caixia eventually marries Wu Danian, who has always stood by her, and they have a daughter, Wu Jing. Years later, Han Qingchun, now a teacher, helps support the impoverished student Wu Jing, and the threads of fate intertwine once more. Through the emotional journeys of two generations, the novel portrays the enduring strength of friendship, romantic love, and family ties, as well as the struggle of individuals against fate amid the tides of the times and their devotion to true love.
"An Unbreakable Bond" is divided into three parts. This part is a realistic and heartwarming novel set in a rural area of Jiangnan during the early years of reform and opening up, spanning several decades. The protagonist, Han Qingchun, comes from a poor farming family in Qingjiang County.