Chen Yan 
Stage Builder 

Stage Builder Diao Shunzi is a down-to-earth worker who builds stage for different performances with his brothers. Shunzi experienced three marriages, the first wife abandoned him, and left Shunzi’s daughter Diao Juhua. The second wife died of cancer, and left her ex-husband’s daughter Han Mei. The third wife Cai Sufen’s pretty and gentle, but bothered Diao Juhua, who is still unmarried for bad looking. Juhua with mental problems took Cai Sufen and Han Mei as the most hated ones, which led to frequent ‘women’s fights’. Shunzi has to beg for works and work day and night to earn money, and face the poor family tortured by his daughter. Han Mei and Cai Sufen left the family successively due to Juhua… The novel uses refined approaches to describe those characters, and presents a story with ups and downs as well as constantly changing fates. It describes lives in Xian from the perspective of a stage builder.