From the Plains to the Highlands

A year in the Jianghan Plain begins with the reeds by the Canglang River. From withered yellow to fresh green, and then to snow-white. When the reeds turn white, the rice turns yellow. When the rice turns yellow, the eels grow fat. When the eels grow fat, the wanderers out in the world should come home. Tian Jun lost his father at the age of eight, and his mother Zhang Yuzhen supported the broken family with her frail shoulders. From a youth sifting sand at construction sites, he worked his way into university, but ultimately chose to return to his hometown that raised him. Meanwhile, a family story spanning half a century gradually comes to light. The bonfire of the Sanduo Festival, the old locust tree by the Canglang River, two boxes of unsent letters... On his journey of seeking, Tian Jun encounters all kinds of people—villagers who hold fast to their homeland, prodigal sons who find their way back, and old people who wait their whole lives. He finally understands: those who leave their hometown are searching for a way back, while those who stay are spending their lives waiting for the returnee. This is a story about hometown, family, love, and the journey home. In this story, there are no heroes, no legends—only those who walk back and forth on the ridges, those who bustle in the kitchen, and those who wait under the old locust tree. Their joys and sorrows are equally stirring, and their perseverance requires equal courage. — Description from novelcodex.org