The Life Story of Lin Kexiu begins on the Mid-Autumn Festival night of 1949. Against the backdrop of sweeping historical change and personal fate, it portrays the hardship, resilience, restraint, and regrets that shaped the life of Lin Kexiu, a poor farm girl from southwestern Hunan. From the moment she was born, she was saddled with the fate of being “born under an unlucky star.” Her childhood was marked by poverty, famine, and the loss of her father. After her mother remarried, the accidental death of her stepfather, Lei Ming, earned her the cruel nickname “a lone star who brings misfortune.” Determined to escape the rumors and slander, she joined the movement sending young people to the countryside. On the Xuefeng Mountain reclamation team, she tried to numb herself with grueling labor, but was raped and became pregnant. She was later assigned to the county seed farm, where she hastily married a worker named Zhang Sanyou. Their marriage began in estrangement, but gradually warmed through Zhang Sanyou’s patience and kindness, and their family found happiness again. After reform and opening up, Lin Kexiu took over a chicken coop, but her children each went their own way. Her eldest daughter, Guizhen, changed her fate through education, yet grew distant from her mother. Her second daughter, Guimei, and third daughter, Guizhu, went south for work, while her son, Zhang Shenghu, became consumed by dreams of getting rich and drove the family into decline. Lin Kexiu gave everything she had for her children, but could not stop the family from falling apart. After her husband died, her son tricked her out of her life savings, leaving her as an unpaid caregiver and punching bag. At last she fled Shenzhen and returned to her hometown, where she was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. As she lay dying, she entrusted her silver bracelet to her third daughter, asking her to pass it on to the grandchildren to help with their education. On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, seventy-three years after her birth, she passed away beneath the full moon. At the funeral, her son put on an impressive, dignified ceremony, while only her daughters truly felt the sorrow and helplessness that had defined their mother’s life.
