In 1992, a severe drought struck Zhaojiayuan on the Weibei dry plateau. Zhao Mancang’s father died of illness, leaving behind debts and two younger brothers. Mancang gave up his college entrance exam and took responsibility for the family, but he couldn’t scrape together the 3,000 yuan for a bride price. He could only watch as Wang Maizi, his childhood sweetheart, married into a family in the county seat.
Mancang married the capable Liu Caihua and set up a woodworking factory. Just as it began to take off, he was swindled into bankruptcy. His younger brother Mantun graduated from high school and went to Xi’an to haul bricks at construction sites. Later, he went down into a coal mine, working while studying on his own, and eventually passed the entrance exam for an adult university.
Mancang switched to growing Sichuan pepper and led the villagers in forming a cooperative. After three grueling years, the harvest came in. But Caihua’s health had been ruined by overwork, and she developed kidney failure. She secretly stopped taking her medication, leaving her children as her last hope. Caihua died that autumn, just as the peppercorns ripened.
After being disfigured, Mantun stayed at the coal mine, married a fellow worker named Wang Gaihua, and wrote a safety manual. Then he received a letter from his older brother: “The plateau has changed. The peppercorns are red. I’m waiting for you.” The brothers embraced at the village entrance. On a snowy day, Mantun began writing a book about Zhaojiayuan.
