The protagonist of "The Ordinary World" is Sun Shaoping. The main content is centered on the two brothers Sun Shao'an and Sun Shaoping, telling the story of the growth of young people, how they endured the hardships in life, and finally lived an ordinary but contented life. The panoramic representation of social life in urban and rural areas of China and the tremendous changes in people's thoughts and emotions during the reform era.

The whole book is divided into three parts.

The first part: Sun Shaoping went to the Yuanxi County High School in early 1975. He was poor, had self-esteem, and was good at studying and working. He fell in love with Hao Hongmei, who was born in a landlord family. Later, Hao Hongmei fell in love with Gu Yangmin, who came from a superior family. Shaoping failed the college entrance examination again and returned to his hometown to produce. But he was not depressed. He established a friendship with Hui Xiaoxia, the daughter of Tian Fujun, deputy director of the County Revolutionary Committee, and followed the outside world with Xiaoxia's help.

Shaoping's older brother, Shaoan, has been working at home. He was childhood sweethearts with Run Ye, the daughter of village party secretary Tian Futang and county teacher, but Tian Futang objected. After painful suffering, Shaoan went to Shanxi to find the hardworking and kind-hearted Xiulian, and Runye had to marry Qiangqian in tears.

At this time, rural life was in chaos, and the drought was adding fuel to the fire. In order to strengthen his prestige, Tian Futang organized secretly digging dams and grabbing water from the upper reaches. Unexpectedly, a life was lost. In order to "imitate Dazhai", he was very happy to blow up the mountain and build it. Tian asked people to move and made people angry. The course of life has reached a point where it must be changed.

The second part: After the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in the spring of 1979, everything was in jeopardy and full of contradictions. Tian Futang held a branch meeting overnight to resist the responsibility system, but Sun Shaoan led the production team to take the lead in implementing it, and then it was implemented nationwide. The village promoted the responsibility system. Shaoan went to the city again to haul bricks, and used the money he earned to build kilns and bake bricks, becoming a "leading household" in the commune.

Shaoping’s youthful dreams and pursuits also inspired him to go out and “enter the world.” He went from a wandering job hunter to a formal construction worker, and finally got a good opportunity to be a coal miner. His girlfriend Xiaoxia worked as a reporter for the provincial newspaper after graduating from the teachers' college. They agreed to meet again two years later.

Run Ye stayed away from her unloved husband and went to work at the Youth League Committee, which caused her infatuated husband to become disabled after drinking and driving. Feeling guilty, Run Ye returned to her husband and began a happy life. Her younger brother Runsheng has also grown up. He met Hao Hongmei, who had a rough fate in a foreign land, and they finally got married. Tian Futang, the strongman who controlled the destiny of the village in the past, is not only resistant to the changes in the new era, but is also troubled by the marriage of his daughter and son, and is plagued by illness.

The third part: It tells that Shaoping arrived at the coal mine in the autumn of 1982, worked hard and became an outstanding worker. Shaoan's brick kiln also made great progress. He decided to borrow money to expand the machine-made bricks. Unexpectedly, because the technicians did not know the technology at all, the brick kiln suffered a lot of losses. Later, with the help of friends and the county magistrate, it started to work again. Run Ye also lived a happy life and gave birth to a fat son. Run Sheng and Hao Hongmei's marriage was finally recognized by their parents, and they gave birth to a lovely daughter.

But misfortunes never come singly. Shaoan's wife Xiulian vomited blood at a party celebrating the expansion of the elementary school with a 20,000 yuan investment from his family and was diagnosed with lung cancer. Xiaoxia made an honorable sacrifice to rescue the victims during the flood fighting interview. Shaoping was also seriously injured while rescuing his apprentice in an accident. But they were not crushed by misfortune. Shaoping came out of the hospital and returned to the mine with confidence.

Extended information:

"The Ordinary World" is a million-word masterpiece written by the famous Chinese writer Lu Yao.

This is a novel that panoramically expresses the life of contemporary urban and rural society in China. The author depicts the broad background of China in the past ten years from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s through complex contradictions and entanglements. At that time, there were many images of ordinary people from all walks of life; labor and love, frustration and pursuit, pain and joy, daily life and huge social conflicts were intricately intertwined, profoundly showing the hardships that ordinary people have gone through in the historical process of the great era. A difficult and winding road.

It is so soul-stirring to read that you can’t bear to put it down. It is known as "the crown jewel of the Mao Dun Literature Award and an immortal classic that inspires millions of young people."

Reference: Baidu Encyclopedia-Ordinary World