Lin Mei, named Mei, does not have the beauty of a rose, only the stubbornness tempered by poverty and domestic violence. Her home was a bottomless pit, her father was burdened with gambling debts, and her mother was bedridden. She took on the family life at a young age, carried bricks at a construction site, washed dishes in a restaurant, and was covered in scars, but she never thought of bowing her head.
Su Xia, whose name means Xia, does not have the heat of midsummer, only the exhaustion of being squeezed dry by her original family. Her parents, who favored sons over daughters, gave her tuition fees to her younger brother and treated her youth as a betrothal gift. She was like a grass wilted by the scorching sun, lingering in despair.
Two girls with the same disease live together in the alleys of a village in the city. Lin Mei used her thin shoulders to hold up the sky for Su Xia, and Su Xia healed Lin Mei's scars with gentle words; they shared half a piece of bread under the street lights late at night, imagined the future in a dilapidated rental house, and agreed to escape from this cannibalistic place together, go to work in a big city, earn a lot of money, and no longer have to look at other people's faces, and no longer have to suffer from poverty.
They are each other's light. Lin Mei's hardness is to protect Su Xia Zhouquan; Su Xia's softness is to warm Lin Mei's heart. They lived frugally and traveled day and night. Finally, they saved enough money to leave and bought a ticket to a distant place. However, before departure, Su Xia suddenly fainted - long-term malnutrition and overexertion caused severe heart failure. The doctor said that there was no way to save her.
Lin Mei stayed in front of the hospital bed, never leaving, holding Su Xia's cold hand and saying over and over again, "We still want to see the neon lights in the big city and eat delicious food. You can't leave." But Su Xia still left, walking on the eve of their freedom. Her summer was forever fixed in that sunless morning.
Purpose: The glimmer of hope that the girls at the bottom could redeem each other amidst the shackles of poverty and native origin was eventually ruthlessly extinguished by illness and fate.