1978: A Chengdu Summer

[~~~Entirely Handcrafted~~~] [No System + No Transmigration + No Rebirth + Not a Power Trip] [Ensemble Cast Across the Eras] [Ordinary People Striving] [Everyday Life] [Realistic Fiction Contest] A sweltering summer day in Chengdu, 1978. The eldest son, Zhou Jingzheng, still has a rural household registration. He’s just been chased through the black market by city inspectors and lost a whole basket of vegetables. Now he’s home to face the mess left behind by uncles, aunts, and other relatives, all crying out that “an elder brother is as good as a father” while demanding food and ration coupons. The youngest brother, Zhou Jingxu, loves fishing and catching crabs. While trying to figure out how to become a Taoist priest at Qingyang Palace, he’s being pushed toward an exam that could change his fate. Their ambitious elder sister, Zhou Jinglan, dives into a state-owned printing factory, battling rivals and seizing every opportunity until she wins a permanent position of her own. Their second sister, who has changed her name and lives under someone else’s roof, stares at the lump of brown sugar in her hand, unsure of who she really is. Life is even harder for the other two sisters, both adopted into the family. Mud clinging to feet on the ridges between fields, anxious sweat at the black market, the fragrant smell of cooking drifting from the alleys... The family bickers and squabbles, but keeps striving to move forward. The winds of reform have arrived, and better days are on their way. This is the story of ordinary people struggling through the tides of their times, and the true story of three generations of the Zhou family across thirty years.