Lǎorén xiàng sūnzi zhuīshù dāngnián de jiānkǔ shēnghuó.
The old man related to his grandson the hard life of those years.
Tips
register
Written/literary register. The everyday equivalent is 回忆 (huíyì) 'to recall' or 讲述 (jiǎngshù) 'to narrate'. 追述 specifically suggests reaching back over time and retelling — common in memoirs, biographies, and historical writing.
memory
追 (zhuī) 'pursue/trace back' + 述 (shù) 'narrate' = trace events back and narrate them. Compare 追溯 (zhuīsù) 'trace back to (origin)' which is about source-tracing rather than retelling.
