In 1933, Cheng was one year old. His 79-year-old maternal grandmother, who had bound feet, walked five hours to Taoyuan to bring him back to Hsinchuang to be raised by his uncle. The sound of crickets in the fields faded and was replaced with the gurgle of the river flowing toward the ocean. The smell of fresh paint fills the stairwell of the Taipei building where Cheng has lived for over thirty years.
溯著記憶的河，1933、鄭清文週歲那年，79 歲、纏著小腳的外祖母，從新莊走了 5 小時的路到桃園，硬把他揹回新莊，過繼給舅舅，原本蟲鳴鳥啼盈耳的鄉野聲響，變成滔滔奔赴海洋的河流。