On August 26, 1980, Nandu Special Economic Zone was established. A spring thunder awakened the sleeping land and ignited the flame in the hearts of countless young people to change their destiny.
Hong Kong businessmen came in droves, and factories sprung up like mushrooms after a rain. A group of young people from a certain town in a county in northern Guangdong embarked on a long journey south to work with their longing for the future. They have nothing but sweat, dreams and determination not to admit defeat.
The novel takes the fate of more than ten young people, including Zhou Shaoting, Huang Dalong, Zhou Wenjie, Zhou Wenbo, Liang Dajun, Lei Xuan, Liang Shaowu, Zhou Jian, Huang Hongluan, and Lin Feng, as the main line. It spans forty years and panoramically shows the vicissitudes of Nandu District from a desert to an international metropolis.
Zhou Shaoting started from a small fashion store and earned her first pot of gold by buying factory clothes. After marrying into a clothing factory, she and her husband jointly operated it and gradually expanded their business territory; Huang Dalong worked as an ordinary worker in the spraying department of a toy factory and worked as a salesperson before resigning and reselling steel bars. Cement eventually became a popular figure in the real estate speculators; Zhou Wenjie and his wife quit their job as teachers in their hometown, started from a teahouse where they drank morning tea, worked their way to the general manager of a large hotel, and finally established a group company; Zhou Wenbo moved from the county auto repair factory to Nandu, and worked as a lottery boss and a construction site owner. A contractor, he eventually established an engineering decoration company; Liang Dajun started from a food stall, then studied to become a hotel chef, and then turned to real estate speculation; Lei Xuan started as an apprentice in a clothing factory and became a self-taught electrician. He was highly appreciated by Taiwanese businessmen and finally settled in Nandu; Liang Shaowu From the factory to the military camp, he became a policeman in a bank building after being discharged from the army; Zhou Jian went from a garment factory worker to a clothing designer, and then to a clothing wholesale boss; Huang Hongluan went from a female toy factory worker to working side by side with Huang Dalong; Lin Feng went from a garment factory worker to a bartender, and eventually became a famous teacher in the industry...
Some of them started from scratch, some had ups and downs, some worked steadily, and some dared to venture and fight. They have shed tears and blood, some are proud, some are frustrated, some are successful, and some are ordinary and happy. But no matter what, they spent their youth and sweat on this hot land and witnessed the miracle of Nandu transforming from a border town into a modern international city.
This is an epic struggle of a group of ordinary people and a microcosm of a great era. Through the changes in fate of small characters, the novel shows the tremendous changes in Chinese society over the past 40 years of reform and opening up, and eulogizes the first generation of special zone builders for their pioneering spirit, hard work and perseverance.
Purpose: The novel shows the great changes in Chinese society over the past forty years of reform and opening up through the changes in fate of little people, and eulogizes the first generation of special zone builders for their pioneering spirit, hard work and perseverance.