Childhood friends
(Tongnian de pengyou)

Hibiscus Town is a simple Chinese town surrounded by a beautiful scenery. Kind-hearted and pretty Hu Yuyin sells a local variety of bean curd made from rice. She works hard and lives frugally with her husband Guigui. As a result, they have some money and finally manage to build a new house. However, this house brings them some trouble. During the “four clean-ups” movement of 1964, they are classified as new rich peasants. their house is confiscated and Guigui is driven to suicide. Party secretary Li Mangeng and the manager of the Grain Supply centre, Gu Yanshan, are also affected and discharged from their posts. The layabout Wang Quishe becomes a key member in the movement and later, during the Cultural Revolution, he is made party secretary. Beautiful Hibiscus Town is filled with darkness and terror.