The Zhao Family of Datun Town: 1980

Synopsis:

1980, the outskirts of Changchun.

Demobilized soldier Zhao Guoliang splits from his family to make his own way. He doesn't grab the fertile fields, choosing instead a plot of poor land by the national highway that nobody else wants.

His elderly father scolds him for not applying himself, while the whole village waits to see him make a fool of himself.

He squats in the snow repairing a Jiefang truck, while his wife, Su Qingning, keeps the books by the kang. One repair shop, two eateries, and a steaming bowl of dough-drop soup in the dead of night.

No overcharging, no adulterating goods, no bad debts. The sisters-in-law keep their accounts straight, and the brothers stand united.

Starting with a two-yuan repair fee, they eventually become the family whose hot meal every truck driver on the Beijing-Harbin route recognizes.

In an era of fierce winds and rough seas, ordinary people can build a good life with nothing but their own two hands.