Era background: 1973-1985, rural northern China
Core theme: When she married him, she was not just marrying a person, but marrying into a precarious family - her mother-in-law was a child bride with bound feet, and only two survived after giving birth to eleven children; her father-in-law died early, and her orphaned and widowed mother was bullied. With her shrewdness and scheming, she kept his position as accountant of the brigade, supported his family, and earned a good life for herself.
