Shanguan Lu was born along with the twentieth century. Before her eyes, the last Chinese dynasty fell and the communist regime flourished. Having been married at 17, she became the Mother of nine children. The Japanese invasion and civil war did not leave her a chance for everyday happiness with her family. To feed her daughters and her only and therefore spoiled son, she worked without sparing herself. Life was so cruel to the Mother that death for her ceased to have any meaning. But one lesson her children learned for sure: their mother never gave up. Her strength of spirit and perseverance inspired her son, who could not learn from his relatives the habit of surviving, to tell about their life drama without embellishment and lies.