One moment he’s asleep; the next, the 26-year-old surgical resident has woken up in 1968 as a sent-down youth in the countryside.
An earthen house, cornmeal mush, and an outhouse with no roof.
Before he can even collect himself, he’s told the authorities have arranged a marriage for him.
His bride is the militia company commander, a gun tucked into her belt. On their wedding night, she puts a bowl of water between them on the kang.
“Stay on your own side. If you spill it, don’t blame me if my hand slips.”
The whole brigade waits to see the city boy make a fool of himself.
Then he sets the broken leg of his father-in-law, who’s been bedridden for ten years.
When Zhao Dabiao shows up with his men to cause trouble, Shen Hongying rests one hand on her holster. “That’s my man. Who dares touch him?”
When commune officials try to investigate him for “practicing medicine illegally,” he slaps a prescription down on the table. “Save the patient first. Punish me afterward.”
Later, the old village secretary calls him Doctor Chen, the county hospital calls him Physician Chen, and a jeep from the provincial capital waits at the village entrance to take him on a house call.
Shen Hongying stands outside the clinic, watching a crowd gather around him to ask for advice. Suddenly, she remembers their wedding night and the bowl of water between them.
She takes that bowl away. Only this time, the water is hot.
Real and objective, multi-dimensional description, clear structure.
Very beautiful, very real
A sense of age, simple years
Anyway, it looks good, sounds good, and the more you watch it, the more interesting it becomes! Like, like, like!
The plot is fascinating and the details are wonderfully described