On the day the national college entrance exam results were released, Su Qinghe was accepted into a university in the provincial capital, but her parents tore up her admission letter. “The money has to be saved for your brother to retake the exam. You’ll get married and bring us a bride price!”
She did not cry. She simply tucked twelve yuan and her exam admission ticket into her pocket and boarded an overnight green-skinned train bound for the provincial capital.
From setting up a street stall to sell hair accessories to reviving a clothing factory on the verge of bankruptcy, she attended classes by day and chased orders at night, riding the wave of the times to earn her first fortune.
Three years later, her younger brother failed his exams and fell into debt, while her father fell ill. The family who had once called her an ungrateful wretch blocked the school gates and forced her to acknowledge them and hand over money.
Su Qinghe threw down a severance declaration. “You didn’t want a daughter back then, so what gives you the right to claim my factory now?”
On the day her new shop opened, however, an old man from the capital handed her a yellowed photograph. “Child, the Su family isn’t your real family. Your biological mother is still alive.”
And the address on the back of the photograph pointed to...
