At the end of the 1970s, the control on the Loess Plateau was very strict. Any family that had more children would have their houses demolished, their cattle taken away from them, and they would be punished to the point of bankruptcy. The children they gave birth to would not be able to register for residence, would not receive food, and would not even be able to attend school.
In order to save the child in their belly, Chen Shouyi and his family traveled all night, escaping thirty miles under the moonlight and settling in Lijia'ao.
But life was not easy. They are outsiders and have a child. They are bullied and made things difficult for them everywhere. The villagers treat them coldly and the cadres stare at them every day. The family is crowded in a dilapidated cave dwelling and lives in fear.
It wasn't until the fourteen-year-old eldest daughter Chunyan looked at the trampled books and listened to her sister's cries of grievance that she finally stopped swallowing her anger. She quietly read and studied the Fa, and with her tenacity, she fought for the opportunity for her sister to go to school and a place in the family, and used her small body to hold up the family that was about to fall apart.
The father was timid and fearful at the beginning, but gradually straightened his back; the mother endured hard times, but always protected the children; even those who had been against her were secretly helping. The family supported each other and gritted their teeth and moved forward during the most difficult years.
They don't ask for anything else, they just want their family to be safe, they just want to be upright and live a dignified life.
Thirty miles of moonlight illuminated their escape route and fifteen years of hard life. From being stepped on by others to standing up with strength, this family finally lived out their hope on the loess slope.
This is the struggle and perseverance of an ordinary family. It describes the difficulties of life for people at the bottom, and also describes the warmth of a family that never leaves.
Purpose: This book takes the escape and struggle of a family with one child in the family planning background of the 1970s as the main story line. It describes the difficulty of survival of the small people at the bottom in the tide of the times, and also writes about the ordinary people's undying pursuit of dignity, family and justice. The work does not accuse or be extreme, but expresses the simplest truth based on real human feelings and destiny: no matter what kind of difficulties they are in, people should not be defined by labels, should not be crushed by power, and should not give up the right to live an upright life. The family spent fifteen years proving that: family is not a burden, but the source of courage; suffering is not fate, but the background of growth; law and conscience can eventually return justice and dignity to the weak.