During the Republic of China, 16-year-old Wang was moved into the landlord Chen's family as the second wife. She was diligent in her duties, but because she secretly tasted a piece of lard residue in the kitchen, her mother-in-law dug out her ears with an iron spoon and threw her half-dead into the woodshed. The mother-in-law colluded with the first wife, tied stones to her body, and sank her into the Blackwater River. The body was found seven days later, and the Chen family spent fifty silver dollars to silence her parents. The novel is adapted from a real family story. It uses the silent annihilation of a woman to reveal the truth about cannibalism in landlord families in the old days - human life is like a piece of grass and injustice sinks into the Blackwater River.
