Episode 1 recap: Li Wen Xiu, with her literary dreams, has encountered numerous setbacks.
Li Wen Xiu, a 19-year-old Han Chinese girl, became a true second-generation resident of Xinjiang because her parents were involved in the construction of the Production and Construction Corps and settled there. Despite never having attended university or even graduating from high school, Li Wen Xiu has a strong desire for the outside world and carries the dream of literature. It seems that she can only feel warmth through words and find her true self - poor, vain, sensitive, and passionate.
In 2001, the renowned writer Liu Haibo came to Urumqi to give a lecture. Li Wen Xiu was fortunate enough to be selected to ask a question but, due to her introverted and self-deprecating nature, she didn't dare to stand up and respond in front of the crowd. Instead, she kept her head down and hid in the corner. Liu Haibo didn't mind and patiently answered Li Wen Xiu's questions written on a piece of paper, telling her that if she was young, she should go to school first, and if she didn't want to go to school, she should try writing from her own life, learning about love, life, and getting hurt.
Before the course ended, Li Wen Xiu hurriedly ran back to the restaurant where she worked. Because she didn't have much education, her colleagues mocked her. Only Gao Xiaoliang from Guangdong was willing to speak up for her. Li Wen Xiu felt that she didn't fit in here, so she confided to Gao Xiaoliang during a casual conversation that she yearned for the capital city, Beijing, and hoped to write truly good articles like other writers.
Although Li Wen Xiu had been working for a while, the money she earned was only enough to cover her daily expenses, but she was willing to stay in the city. In her eyes, Urumqi was large and prosperous, and even just walking on the street, countless possibilities of life emerged one after another, as if as long as she was alive, there was hope for success. On the other hand, Uncle Sulitan had to leave the station because he was carrying a knife and failed the security check.
Inside the restaurant, Li Wen Xiu's colleagues held up her diary, mocking and humiliating her maliciously, which unexpectedly caused Li Wen Xiu to mess up an important reception. She had to pack her things, take the remaining severance pay deceived by Gao Xiaoliang, and travel a long distance back to Altay to seek shelter with her mother.
The journey back was so long, and yet there were always problems. The overnight bus kept breaking down, and Li Wen Xiu had to keep reversing. Finally, she stopped at the end of the desert.
Due to the language barrier, Li Wen Xiu struggled and went through countless difficulties. In a disheveled state, she finally appeared in front of her mother, Zhang Feng Xia. The place they were in was extremely barren, but they managed to find joy in their optimistic attitudes. Since the death of Li Wen Xiu's father, Zhang Feng Xia had been taking care of her grandmother, who suffered from dementia. Fortunately, her grandmother's health was still relatively strong, and apart from occasional confusion, they managed to live together as three generations under one roof.
On this night, Zhang Feng Xia sat on the grassland, drinking and gazing into the distance, lost in her thoughts. Li Wen Xiu knew that her father's death had deeply affected Zhang Feng Xia. Over the years, Zhang Feng Xia had moved houses several times and traveled to countless places, causing Li Wen Xiu to have an unsettled life since she was young.
Upon hearing that Zhang Feng Xia planned to go to the more remote Xia Ranch, Li Wen Xiu tried to persuade her to change her mind but was met with refusal. Zhang Feng Xia told Li Wen Xiu to find a sense of security within herself and if she couldn't adapt to such a place, she should return to the city and not rely on her parents all the time.
Sulitan traveled a long distance on horseback and arrived at the place where his son took care of the horses, covered in dust. He directly expressed his intention to take his son home. The supervisor strongly opposed this because Ba Tai had already signed a five-year contract and was an excellent horse caretaker trained by the supervisor. How could they let him leave the horse farm at this critical moment? Considering that his elder brother had just passed away and the family needed his care, Ba Tai decided to first take the Yili Heavenly Horses back to Xia Ranch and return to the horse farm in the spring of next year.
After some consideration, the supervisor agreed to Ba Tai's request, believing that he would keep his promise. That night, Ba Tai administered medicine and bandaged the horses' wounds. With a heavy heart, he caressed the horses, preparing to set off early the next morning to return home.
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