Hekou Town

"Hekou Town" is a novel about hometown, growth and daily life. They live in an inconspicuous town on the coast of southern Zhejiang. There are only two streets in the town, one along the river and one leading to the road. Two incandescent lamps are on under the eaves of Shen's house all year round; his father runs a lumber factory and seafood business, and his mother is concerned about the family's food and clothing; his grandfather boils water and looks at lumber in the factory every day. He has a bad temper, but always leaves a bowl of hot rice for Zhiyu. Zhiyu was reading on the porch, and Ahe was sitting under the loquat tree, peeling bamboo strips. People go to the market, watch social operas, hold weddings, listen to the radio, and argue endlessly about a piece of wood, a boat, and the next year's harvest. News of the war gradually came to Hekou Town. Outsiders moved in along the waterways, the wounded stayed at the docks, the lumber mills changed uses, and familiar people kept leaving. Zhiyu grew up and learned photography, medicine, English and other knowledge that could truly save people; Ahe also spent many years looking for Mingchuan's name, parents and where he came from. The appearance of Lu Xingzhou allowed Zhiyu to see the vast and complex world outside Hekou Town for the first time. "Bayou Town" is not about how a group of people become heroes, but how ordinary people continue to live in turbulent times. Times have changed their names, identities and paths, but they have not taken away those small and specific things: some people wait for the door, some people bring food, some people remember that you are afraid of the cold, and some people still leave a room for you long after you have left.