No. 38 Kangping Lane [Period]

Note: This is still the story of Li Dai and Chen Yin, but the blurb has been revised.

Li Zhenghe, the steel magnate, has three daughters. His eldest, Li Zhenzhen, graduated from a foreign languages school and was assigned to Tianjin. Naturally, she had no intention of going. In Shanghai in the early 1950s, there were plenty of wealthy families. Finding one of comparable standing who could support her as a wife without a job was no trouble at all, especially since she had a huge dowry.

Sure enough, before long, she was engaged to the son of a real estate magnate.

The second daughter, Li Ya, was quick-witted and highly resourceful. After graduating with a journalism degree, she became a newspaper reporter. One interview brought her together with the soldier Zhou Dashan, and before long, they were married.

The youngest, Li Dai, was clever and charming, as pretty as a doll. She was Li Zhenghe's darling. When he fell gravely ill, he carefully chose Chen Yin for her, a working-class son whom he had sponsored to study abroad years earlier and who had since returned.

Chen Yin was the son of a laborer. He lived simply, was quiet by nature, and did everything by the book. His routine was as precise as clockwork.

Li Dai loved to play and make merry. She adored fine clothes and food, dancing and playing music, and throwing parties. Naturally, she found Chen Yin insufferable and looked down on him in every way.

But after her father passed away and the steelworks underwent changes, Li Dai eventually curbed her temper, moved out of the garden villa, and went with Chen Yin to live at No. 38 Kangpingfang, a modern-style lilong residence. She also took over the management of the steelworks.

Reading guide: This is a story spanning the 1950s to the 1990s, about a married couple working hand in hand to move forward and build up the steelworks. The focus is on everyday life, with all kinds of changes through the eras.

Theme: When the young are strong, the nation is strong.