Deep in the mountains of Yangbi, Yunnan, Liu Yufeng, a newly widowed Yi woman, faces the taunt that “a widow can never make anything of herself.” She pawns her dowry and takes over the barren hillside she and her late husband once planted. She vows to turn wild olives into “green gems.” After repeated grafting failures and pressure from her in-laws to remarry, only Zhang Wanneng, a produce buyer, comes to her aid with money and expertise when she needs it most. She gathers the women left behind in the village and forms a cooperative. On a stormy night, he risks his life to save her, and amid the olives’ bitterness, their feelings quietly turn sweet.
Just as the business begins to take off, rumors and commercial rivalries follow one after another. Liu Yufeng uses the Yi people’s circle dance to unite everyone, and, true to the spirit of their sworn oaths, mortgages her assets to help Zhang Wanneng break through in the business world. From fresh fruit to essential oils, she brings Yi embroidery patterns to international orders. At the Torch Festival, wearing both a wedding dress and work clothes, she marries him, forging an alliance between tradition and modernity. In the end, olive trees cover the mountainsides, and her story reaches the United Nations podium. The grafted sapling from years ago has grown into a shady tree, bearing witness to how one woman turned the green mountains in her heart into a “mountain of gold” shared by all. My new work is out! Head over to Tomato Novel to read it. I hope you’ll enjoy it. Your support inspires me to write, and I’ll do my best to tell every story well!
