Ordinary world

"Each person's life is likewise a world, and even the most ordinary person has to fight for the existence of that world of his. In this sense, there is not a single day of peace in these ordinary worlds either."

The philosopher Schopenhauer said, "The greatest prison in the world is the consciousness of the human mind." The sensitive teenager in the book, Sun Shaoping, who lives in 1975, opens his horizons through reading.

In his ordinary and impoverished world, the sense of responsibility of his father and elder brother, the care and watering of his mother and neighbors, and the righteousness of his brothers all subconsciously shape this new-age rural youth. In the turbulent social changes, he grows into a responsible and loving person, and grows rich in his spiritual world in the poor real world. The rural world no longer confines his steps, and the young boy longs for a broader world. Shao Ping's growth also represents the spiritual awakening of a generation of people who, in the closed and backward countryside, do not give up their search for the world, even though these efforts are still insignificant, but still light up a star fire.

The book's older brother, Sun Shao'an, on the other hand, takes up the family's burdens early on, supporting the family's stormy home with his unspoken but profound love. The history of the brothers' upbringing is touching.