To Live tells the story of Xu Fugui, whose life and family suffer through various social upheavals like civil war, the Three-anti and Five-anti campaigns, the Great Leap Forward, and the Cultural Revolution. In the end, all his loved ones pass away, leaving him alone with an old cow. The novel presents his struggles and hardships in a rapidly changing era with simple, straightforward storytelling. Through calm narration, it reflects on the meaning of life, the value of existence, and the inevitability of fate, showing the unpredictability of life.