Building a New Era

(“Write about the human spirit, and convey strength through words”, An outstanding entry in the Second Online Original Literature Realism Writing Contest)

The story follows college sweethearts Lin Nanfei and Jiang Beiyan as they navigate careers and love. Beside an ancient canal, a highway for tourists is being built in full swing. Along the way, they encounter the local ethnic customs and beautiful scenery, as well as rural workers who have left home for jobs, children left behind, and elderly people living alone. The story also explores the family conflicts and emotional entanglements faced by the highway construction workers.

One day, an artifact from the ancient Sui-Tang Grand Canal is unearthed at the construction site, and work is promptly halted. This sparks a conflict between tourism development and the preservation of cultural relics, between economic progress and the passing down of history...