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"Songzhuang on Earth" is a novel set in the painter's village of Songzhuang, Beijing. Wang Chunhua, a young girl who drifted from the North, married Bearded, a painter from Songzhuang. After Bearded "eloped" with him, Wang Chunhua sent her daughter back to her hometown to be raised by her mother. She went to the United States and returned to Songzhuang two years later. She called herself Mary, a returnee from overseas. She lived in poverty but dreamed of becoming rich overnight. Er Mao, a down-and-out painter, claimed that he had an authentic work by Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty and hoped to sell it as soon as possible so that he could get married. Mary wanted to buy the painting and sell it at a high price, so she began to rack her brains to raise funds. Mary thought that the poet Ah Hei was rich, so she came to see him. The innocent and kind-hearted Ah Hei fell in love with Mary while living together, but Mary lied about being pregnant in order to force Ah Hei to give up money. Later, she learned that Ah Hei had no money and left angrily. Mary exchanged the IOU for Er Mao's paintings and planned to take her daughter to the United States to start a new life. However, she was stopped by the police at the customs...