She is the mother-in-law of Lin Yue and the mother of Zhang Yuandong. She had given birth to twins herself. She was known in the village for disliking her eldest son Zhang Yuandong. After Lin Yue married into the family, Sun Hongmei found an excuse to demand a lot of money from Zhang Yuandong and expanded their house to four main rooms with a firewood storage room, making them appear as a respectable family in the village. However, when Lin Yue became pregnant and could not work much, earning few work points, Sun Hongmei refused to support her and quickly separated their households, kicking Lin Yue out. She used the excuse of filial piety to force Lin Yue to take care of her in-laws and took away a lot of the grain during the autumn harvest distribution when the commune changed its policy. She told Lin Yue nice things about building a separate house for her son when times got better, but this was apparently empty promises.
