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The story takes place in a Peking Opera troupe in the 1980s. Qin Xuezhong, a luthier with superb skills and a noble personality, and Yue Shaokun, who is also a luthier and is good at playing tricks, both have a crush on Yun Shenglan, the mainstay and star of the troupe. As time goes by, the next generation of Qin Xuezhong and Yue Shaokun gradually grew up in the courtyard. They were placed high hopes on the inheritance by the previous generation, but they parted ways in the increasingly bleak situation of the Peking Opera Troupe. The emotional entanglement between Yun Shenglan, Qin and Yue also took unexpected twists and turns as the situation changed many years later. The overt and covert struggles of the Peking Opera troupe, the changing tide of the times, the emotions and destiny of the two generations are all entangled in it, and there is no control over it...

"Collecting the Mountain" was written in the late 1970s. It depicts the scenes of old Beijing restaurants in the ups and downs of three generations of chefs in Wantangju, Beijing, and writes about the joys and sorrows of an era filled with the fragrance of food. Under the tide of the rapid development of the times, generations of traditional craftsmen have experienced glory and decline, inheritance and rupture, persistence and concessions; just like the inheritance of Wantangju Palace Roast Duck, it has been experienced, advanced and retreated in the great era, and finally settled.

A new novel by Chang Xiaohu, a writer born in the 1980s, uses a free and easy Beijing-style writing style to affectionately describe the bumpy life path and tenacious will of life of his parents' generation. The protagonist Ruying grew up in a large factory in Beijing. As the eldest daughter, she developed a strong character since she was a child. She voluntarily chose to leave her family during the era of people going to the mountains and countryside. She went to the Northeast and was tempered by the difficult environment. After returning to the city, she was shocked to find that she had become an outsider in the family and could only rely on her help. Personal strength seeks survival space; during the social transformation process in the 1980s and 1990s, she experienced the ups and downs of her career, the estrangement of her family, the betrayal of her friends, and the tricks of fate, but she still remained true to herself and sacrificed for others again and again. Although her livelihood was difficult, her stubborn confidence in the future never faded.

In the early years, the ideal of ordinary citizens in the capital was: to practice martial arts and gain access to the emperor's family; now, in order to support their families, the "wrestlers" struggling at the bottom have no choice but to work for the mafia boss. He is now afraid of meeting acquaintances, especially acquaintances who are very kind to him. Sometimes, if you are surrounded by such people, nothing can be done. He wanted to tell his son this experience, but the child was too young. He hopes he understands that the power that makes you grow and become stronger often comes from opponents who bring you shame. When he was a student in the wrestling class at an amateur sports school, his father and brother stood beside him, but no one would tell him the truth. He only knows that people must be united.

The courtyard inside Wantangju is very deep, and a dumpling shop has been built in several wing rooms on the west side. Snack shops and noodles are also newly built. The six shady pavement houses facing the street in the backyard are close to Daolin's warehouse, with rolling tile sheds, Taoist hat gates, clear water ridges, and a row of street doors painted blue-black from top to bottom. It was originally a reversal left to the government before the family moved out. After the public-private partnership, the store closed the door and opened it up two by two, and turned it into a duck pen. It is still in use today. According to today's theory, Yang Yuejun should be regarded as the third generation of chefs. But in the 1970s, we would call him the chef, which is the head chef and the leader of the hot dish team. His broad body always wears a brand-new white uniform, with black uniform overalls underneath. On his head was an elasticated bean bag hat, which was also worn squarely. I remember that day, Secretary Qi of the branch was next to us and didn't say much. He only gave me three words, called Master.

The story begins with the young Tu Guozhu becoming a disciple of Yang Yuejun, the head chef of Wantangju. As soon as he became his third disciple, Tu Guozhu was sent by Master Yang to work as a handyman in the duck house run by Ge Qing, another famous roast duck master in Wantangju. Master Yang's purpose is to retain Ge Qing's unique roast duck skills and promise him the position of general manager of Wan Tangju. Tu Guozhu gained Ge Qing's trust with his sincerity, and also got the experience of roast duck and the manager position promised by Yang Yuejun. However, in an accident, Ge Qing was arrested and Tu Guozhu was infamy. Later, Wan Tangju competed for foreign restaurant quotas and introduced new system reforms. Tu Guozhu, his two senior brothers, and two junior brothers fought openly and secretly in the ever-changing catering industry, but supported each other, and eventually went their separate ways and drifted apart...