Regrets of the Gengzi Year

The Lingering Grudge of Gengzi is a sweeping rural tragedy set in the black earth of Northeast China's Guandong region. Spanning the late Qing dynasty, the Republic of China, the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo, the War of Resistance and liberation, and rural life after Reform and Opening Up, it follows the fateful entanglement of several generations from two villages, caught up in hatred, secrets, and desire over a hidden cache of silver and gold from the Gengzi era, stained by the blood debts of the Majia clan.

Through a bloody old case from the late Qing dynasty, the novel depicts the hardships endured by ordinary people at the bottom of society in turbulent times: wartime massacres, Japanese invasion, village gossip, and old clan feuds. The old willow tree is both a marker for buried treasure and the spiritual symbol of the whole book, bearing witness to slaughter, betrayal, parting, and new life.