One child for life was the law in China.
Dama has raised her three sons in the village, Flying Dragon. Children - boys - are essential to carry on the family line, but her three sons have failed to produce any and now her pregnant daughter-in-law is living in a hidden cellar to avoid a forced abortion. Meanwhile, Fenghua's only nephew has been kidnapped, probably sold.
In a land where people are viciously punished for wanting to be parents, and where the law keeps changing, peasants will go to desperate lengths in order to have a baby boy, legally or otherwise.
Mingming and Fenghua must make a heartbreaking decision in order to have the baby they long for. Dingming wants to marry but his lady is elsewhere. Xingming hasn't yet met a wife. Will Dama's offspring be able to carry on their family line?