Chen Zhiqiang was born in a rural village. His mother Chen Guihua raised him all alone by farming the land. After he was admitted to a university in Shanghai, he desperately tried to leave his rural roots behind. He fabricated a fake identity: the only son of a well-educated Shanghai family, a senior technician at a major enterprise earning 800,000 yuan per year. With this lie, he successfully married Lin Xiao, a wealthy local young woman from Shanghai.
On their wedding day, Chen Guihua traveled a long way to attend the ceremony, bringing along the family heirloom. Terrified that his secret would be uncovered, Chen Zhiqiang tried every means to stop his mother from entering the wedding venue. Fortunately, many kind strangers helped Chen Guihua along her journey, and she finally pushed open the doors of the wedding banquet hall.
In front of all the guests, Chen Zhiqiang lied publicly and claimed that Chen Guihua was their family’s housekeeper. Lin Xiao and her family believed the false story. Later, Chen Guihua moved into Chen Zhiqiang’s villa, where Lin Xiao treated her harshly and humiliated her as a maid. To preserve his fake identity, Chen Zhiqiang did nothing to protect his mother. He even allowed Lin Xiao to mistreat her, hoping to drive his mother away quickly.
Eventually, the whole truth came out. Enraged, Lin Xiao’s family turned against him and kicked Chen Zhiqiang out of the house. Chen Guihua saw clearly her son’s vanity and cold heart. Devastated, she gave the precious heirloom to her adopted son Zhou Mingyuan, who was not blood-related but loyal and upright. Having lost everything, Chen Zhiqiang knelt down and begged his mother for forgiveness, yet Chen Guihua refused to pardon him.
