At the age of eighteen, Shen Nian'an suffered the loss of her closest relatives and was taken to live in the county town by her mother. In straitened circumstances, she went to work at the home of the deputy director of the machinery factory. Daily chores filled her days, yet she never gave up her desire to seek knowledge — reading in the gaps between cooking and other labors, studying on her own late at night by radio, determined to change her fate through self-taught examinations. Along the way, she had the support and company of her family, and received kindness and help from others. This girl chasing her dreams amid everyday life, striving forward in the ordinary warmth of home, is slowly making her way toward a brand new future of her own.