In the early 1990s, in a small western town, Zhang Xiaolei, who had just finished his entrance exam for junior high school, finally welcomed the long-awaited summer vacation without homework.

Coincidentally, that year, the country began to implement the transformation of state-owned enterprises, breaking the iron rice bowl.

Zhang Xiaolei's father's unit was also impacted by the reform, affecting the lives of every family in their residential compound.

Children were bored all day long, while seemingly calm adults' hearts were as hot as the scorching sun due to the changes.

On the night of the beginning of autumn, the night-blooming cereus in Zhang Xiaolei's yard quietly bloomed, as if implying something....[3] Xiaodan Li Qiuhui Gao Dong Ren