In 1992, a wave of state-owned enterprise restructuring swept across the country. On the day Shen Nianqiu was laid off, she stood at the factory gate all afternoon, holding on to the 800 yuan she had earned from her seniority.
Also unemployed with her are Lin Manli, the most artistic person in the workshop, and Zhou Hongying, the most aggressive female worker in the factory.
When they were desperate, the three women pooled their money to purchase the state-owned photo studio on West Street that was about to close down.
No one thinks highly of them. In that era when "women should go home to support their husbands and raise children", they were ridiculed, looked down upon, and plotted against by men.
But they don't believe in fate.
Shen Nianqiu speaks with technology, Lin Manli impresses people with aesthetics, and Zhou Hongying protects the field with fierceness. Three years later, West Street Photo Studio became the most popular photo studio in the city.
This is the story of three laid-off female workers and the history of the struggle of a generation of women. They have no golden fingers, only the bones that refuse to admit defeat.
I would like to dedicate this book to every woman who strives to stand firm in the tide of the times.
