I am not Ximen Qing.

They didn't care at all. After school, they were content with simply copying homework, getting by without actually answering questions. The five of them stood in a row, heads down, faces flushed, feeling a sense of pride in being the odd ones out in the class. Teacher Song, on the other hand, was patient, earnestly advising them to study hard and go to university. But no one from the forest farm had ever become a university student. However, the middle school students had already started learning English, and everyone greatly respected their English teacher. Foreign languages ​​were new and exciting, and being able to speak one was a remarkable achievement. All the students looked at Teacher Han with envy. She had volunteered to become an English teacher at the forest farm for love. Her father was a deputy director; considering she didn't use her father's connections but chose to spread knowledge deep in the forest, who wouldn't admire her for that? Her younger brother was a celebrity in the bureau, having been admitted to Fudan University in Shanghai as a top student—a truly legendary family.

Teacher Han was remarkable, brimming with romanticism. Her husband, Electrician Yang, had a large family of siblings, but their father had passed away prematurely, leaving him to shoulder the burden of supporting the family from a young age. The workers at the Dahe Forestry Farm all said he was lucky; the deputy director's daughter had willingly married him despite their poverty, and she was also virtuous, giving him all her salary to supplement the family income. Of course, Electrician Yang was not only tall and strong but also handsome, a rare find in those days when women pursued men. Teacher Han wasn't a beautiful wife, but she possessed extraordinary charm and spoke fluent English. The two were newly married, deeply in love, the most carefree couple, never shying away from public displays of affection, strolling hand-in-hand through the Dahe Forestry Farm compound. The organization had allocated them a dormitory, promising that when new housing became available, this most enviable couple would be given priority.

It's okay if they don't want to study, but curiosity is a child's nature. They don't study because there are bigger temptations. Folding paper airplanes and launching them with all their might, seeing whose airplane flies the highest and farthest. Playing marbles, using your thumb to flick the marble in an arc like a bullet, and accurately hitting your opponent's marble makes it a prize. This game is perfect for spring and summer. Many elementary school students are obsessed with this activity. Every student has a jar full of marbles at home. For boys, this symbolizes wealth; the more marbles, the more wealth. If they have a penny or two, they'll either buy a five-cent popsicle or five-cent marbles. Often, the marbles will get scratches and cracks from hitting each other, which is a pity.

Xiaoyu was quite the expert. Once, he beat Zhang Sheng, Fucai, Xinjun, and Jindi in marbles. This almost led to a fight, but Xiaoyu was incredibly skilled, and they were no match for him. He was a martial arts master, capable of taking on five or six opponents at once. He had always been adept at running and climbing trees, so after several encounters, they witnessed his incredible speed. There was no television in the forest, so they couldn't watch martial arts films. It's unclear when Zhang Sheng started playing with Xiaoyu, but Xiaoyu did something remarkable that spread among the children. He made a gunpowder gun. His father was a repairman, and after much pleading, he finally obtained copper tubing. He also used bullet casings dropped on the riverbank by the militia during target practice, using rubber bands as springs and large steel wires as firing pins. He could extract gunpowder by prying open firecrackers. His creation—a successful bird gun—was complete. The children stood behind him with adoring eyes. A gunshot rang out, and lead pellets, made from molten lead, hurtled towards the sparrows. They missed; the birds were extremely wary of the children, highly alert. Besides the air gun, another threat was their slingshots. The probability of hitting the target with the slingshot pellets was very low, but with luck, they could often hit crows and sparrows. The birds had developed a conditioned reflex; seeing the noisy children, they knew these rascals were up to some mischief again.

At that moment, Xiaoyu nearly injured his eyes. As the gunpowder shot flew out of the copper tube, the recoil was too great, spraying black smoke backward and instantly turning him into a black-faced charcoal burner. He sat on the ground, terrified. The gunpowder gun shattered into pieces, leaving only the handle; the steel pipe was cracked, and not even a bird feather was hit. Officer Fan heard the gunshot and knew that another child had caused trouble. He had seen too many of these incidents; boys all liked guns, and if they couldn't play with real ones, they'd make their own. Xiaoyu reacted quickly and ran, running, running! All the children vanished in a flash. Everyone tolerated the children's pranks; as long as no one was hurt, no one bothered to investigate.

Because of this incident, Xiaoyu became the leader of the group of boys and gained influence. These friends, who weren't interested in studying, started competing to see who could come up with the most outrageous tricks. So, these boys who didn't study began a competition to make their own gunpowder guns. Xiaoyu contributed her skills, and in exchange, everyone contributed their strength to help Xiaoyu carry firewood home. This was hard work; each person carried five or six pieces of wood, panting heavily. But with many hands make light work, and in less than an hour, a rectangular stack of firewood would be piled up in the yard.

Xiaoyu had an old, hunched-over grandmother with a sallow complexion and white hair styled in an old-fashioned bun. She had a bad respiratory system, coughing frequently and spitting out yellow phlegm. Xiaoyu treated her grandmother very badly, even cursing her in front of them, saying things like, "You old hag, don't bother her." Zhang Sheng later heard from his father that the whole family was unfilial, which disappointed him, so he visited their house less often.

每一家里孩子都有一个怕的人，张笙最怕的不是二叔，三叔，还有小叔，最怕的是大舅。他小时候太淘气了，姥爷有一次生气要揍他，他就从高处跳下，所以跌脚，可能比跌脚更严重，走路一瘸一瘸的。他喜欢大姐，他一身爱人肉，从小就得到姥姥的疼爱，是她的掌上明珠。大舅每次来到家里，张笙马上就像见了鬼似的消失的无影无踪。他特别喜大姐。

"You little brat, where do you think you're going? Learn from your second sister!"

"Uncle, you can't catch me, why don't you try?"

"I'll grab you and spank you."

"Go ahead and hit me, you can't catch me anyway."

Faced with his uncle's strategy of running away as the best of the thirty-six stratagems, Zhang Sheng decided to wait for his uncle to catch up with him.

"You bastard, I'm not falling for that."

"Uncle, don't kiss me, your beard is prickly," the older sister protested.

"If your protest is ineffective, your uncle will kiss you."

"Stop it, Jinshui, the children are all grown up now." (Mother)

"Second brother, where did you run off to?" asked the eldest uncle.

"She's studying at a classmate's house," said her mother.

"Big sister, tell me if your husband argues with you again. I can't stand him bullying you all the time," the uncle said, standing up for her.

"Okay, Jinshui, just don't bully your wife. Tiger will be starting first grade next year." (Mom)

"This kid isn't cut out for studying." - Uncle

"Change your bad temper, don't scare the child."

"Eldest sister, I'll change my ways when you and your husband stop arguing. Second sister, your husband is a model couple; you should learn from him." (Eldest uncle)

"Why aren't you at work?" Mom asked.

"I had a fight with my boss." (Uncle)

"You're just like your brother-in-law, always unable to get along with the leaders. You two are too arrogant. If your brother-in-law knew how to pull strings and listen to the leaders, he would have been promoted long ago. So many opportunities, but he just couldn't seize them. Director Qiao promoted him, but he just wouldn't take the bait, letting that scoundrel get the benefit." (Mom)

"Secretary Zhang treats my brother-in-law well; he'll have other opportunities in the future." - Uncle

"It's heartbreaking. Who will talk to him anymore? His whole family is out of their minds." - Mom

"Big sister, all the other brothers and sisters are smart and do well in school, but none of us in the family are academically inclined." (Uncle)

"What's the use of being good at studying? Without a father to discipline you, you'll end up like your older brother, a complete idiot. I really regret choosing him; everyone else is better than him." - Mother

"Our mother has excellent taste; her coffin was all thanks to my brother-in-law." - Uncle

"They've been gone for so many years, it's heartbreaking, let's not talk about it." (Mom)

"The second son is back." (Eldest uncle)

"My eldest uncle really doesn't know how to talk." Second sister

"Well, you've really made progress in your studies, you've even learned to talk back! But I don't get angry when the second son talks back; he's always first or second in every exam." - Uncle

All the children are Don Quixote-like youths, possessing grand, absurd dreams. The only difference between them and chivalrous knights is their vague understanding of the difference between men and women, and their sexual concepts. They sleep next to their sisters, enjoying the warmth of their mothers and fathers together—a poetic and peaceful home. They listen to their parents' conversations after the lights are off at night, wondering what's new at the work team, the everyday gossip. At night, often a bright moon shines, its light illuminating the yard. Everything is so tranquil; nowhere else in the world is more beautiful than the stars in the sky. The stars, like floating sapphires, shimmer with bright blue and white light. So close to the forest, so close to the river, countless fireflies dance in the trees, flying from the woods to the yard to the window. Each firefly has its own little lamp, the warm glow of fluorescent lights, a warm and cozy atmosphere. The windows are open, covered with soft screens, no longer worrying about mosquito bites. The temperature is low at night, so I need to cover myself with a blanket when I sleep. It's so wonderful to sleep with my parents. Dad often snores loudly, and sometimes Mom can't stand it anymore, so she pats Dad's back hard, and the snoring stops for a moment, then it starts up again with his ear-piercing snoring.

The grandfather clock ticked incessantly, striking loudly on the hour. There was no need to worry about oversleeping, because the rooster would fly to the barn roof and crow at the crack of dawn, like a tenor. Every household had a rooster, so as the sun rose, the east was ablaze with red light, and the entire forest was filled with the roosters' crowing, with the dogs immediately joining in, barking incessantly. Sleep was so peaceful and sweet; I really didn't want to go to school, but I couldn't stay in bed—sleeping in was forbidden here. Upon waking, I hurriedly dressed, grabbed my military-style satchel—it was all the rage. Firstly, it was to express love for the People's Army, but more importantly, these satchels were exceptionally sturdy; unless you deliberately tried to cut them with a knife, it would take a lot of force. The satchels often had a five-pointed star on them. The pencil cases were all made of iron, and the boys' pencil cases were all dented and uneven, with irregular concave surfaces.

Besides flatbread and rice porridge, breakfast included pickled radishes made by Mom. Everyone was very active, so their stomachs would rumble incessantly around noon. Don Quixote battled windmills, but Zhang Sheng and his friends didn't fight windmills; instead, they carried paper windmills, using nails as bearings to generate wind as they ran, making the windmills spin continuously. It's a pity they couldn't make kites, otherwise it would have been even more fun. Next door, Old Liang had a fierce look on his face. Legend has it that Old Liang was a bandit in his youth, but that's just a legend. He wasn't one of the Liangshan heroes from the Water Margin. He had three sons and an older daughter, and because he had many sons, he was particularly aggressive. His wife, Aunt Liang, was quite understanding. One day, his youngest son bullied his older sister, and their father stood up for her, scolding Old Liang.

"Don't give me that crap. I wasn't afraid of anyone when I was young," said Old Man Liang.

"Old Liang, what era are we living in? We've already let you off easy by not exposing your past." (Dad)

"Hmph, go ahead and try to tear it off. Anyway, this isn't the Cultural Revolution, I'm not afraid at all." Old Man Liang

"Don't give me that crap. Let's stick to the facts. Your fifth son dared to bully a girl seven or eight years younger than him, and you still think you're right?" (Dad)

"Who saw it?" Old Man Liang

"What, are you trying to cheat?" Dad

"Just kidding." Old Man Liang

"Who's joking with you? Let me tell you, Lao Liang's mother doesn't know yet, but you know about her mother's five daughters." (Dad)

"Don't tell his mother, I'll beat that kid up when he gets back." Old Man Liang

Old Liang's daughter, Fengjie, was classmates with Zhang Sheng's older sister. Later, it became clear that Fengjie was jealous of her sister being chosen as the sports meet conductor, so she told her brother, Xiao Wu, that her older sister had bullied her at school. Fengjie was the only girl in the family, the apple of Old Liang's eye. Old Liang finally calmed down and no longer needed to be afraid of his past as a bandit. Aunt Liang had advised him several times to keep a low profile, not to drink more liquor and talk nonsense. He had survived so many sports events, and now that he was old, he was bringing up his shameful past. What was he doing? He should watch his words.

"You'd better watch out for Lao Liang. What will you do if another Cultural Revolution breaks out?"

"Whatever, I'll accept defeat if it happens again."

“You don’t care about your future, but Xiao Wu is about to join the army. What about our son’s future?”

"Oh dear, wife of my child, thank goodness you reminded me. I should at least apologize to your neighbor Zhang Honglin and his family."

“They’re all nice people, we can’t mess with them. All the relatives in the entire forest farm are Zhang Honglin’s relatives.”

"You think his son is pretty good? If Sister Feng were to marry his youngest son in the future, it would be a great match."

"Don't talk nonsense. Our Sister Feng is five or six years older than that man's son."

"What's wrong with that? If it were before, I would have thought I was being taken advantage of if I had a wife who was older and younger than me."

"Dad, don't talk nonsense."

Sister Feng often eavesdropped on Old Liang and her mother's private conversations; in fact, Sister Feng's face was as red as a peach blossom.

"The girl is all grown up now, stop talking nonsense. Go to sleep, Sister Feng has to go to school tomorrow."

"Feng'er, if you marry that boy in the future, you'll have to take care of me in my old age."

"I have three older brothers."

"What three older brothers? They all follow my personality, I dare not count on them."

"You shameless wretch! This girl is only thirteen! What nonsense are you spouting? Sister Feng, don't listen to your father's rubbish. Study hard!"

"I'm not cut out for studying." Although Fengjie outwardly opposed her father's premature plans for her future marriage, given his limited education, he didn't know the gravity of his words, and Fengjie didn't sleep well that night.