Introduction to "Desolate Continent"
The story takes root in the isolated Shazhou Village on the shores of Poyang Lake, and spans the ups and downs of the thirty years from 1992 to 2022. Farmers Lin Mancang and Su Xiulian were shackled by traditional concepts and gave birth to three daughters one after another. They insisted on giving birth to a son to continue their family life. In order to avoid family planning inspections, they traveled around and were fined heavily and emptied their entire family property. Due to the need to make a living, Lin Mancang went to other places to work all year round, while Su Xiulian stayed in the countryside alone, taking on the farm work and the livelihood of her four children. A large number of young people left the village, and the evils of the hollow village broke out completely: card games were prevalent at the entrance of the village, gambling was rampant, left-behind women struggled in loneliness, and neighbors often quarreled over trivial matters such as vegetable fields, water canals, and poultry. Wen Zhilan, a rural female teacher, was tricked by the village party secretary Wang Changgui into using her power to get pregnant unexpectedly. She was forced to hastily marry a bachelor from the village due to the rumors in the countryside, and she was trapped in a cold marriage and depressed for the rest of her life. Wang Changgui, who holds power, took advantage of loopholes in the system, withheld subsidies from farmers for a long time, and exploited various affairs for personal gain. The novel uses a compassionate and realistic style to dissect the various forms of life in the countryside. It not only describes the narrow-mindedness and internal strife of human nature caused by poverty, but also retains the simple goodwill of the people at the bottom. When the anti-corruption at the grassroots level is implemented, the old order that has been entrenched in the countryside for many years suddenly collapses. Ordinary people who have been trapped by the times end up carrying regrets for half their lives.
