I am not Ximen Qing.

Sometime later, Fengjie suddenly found Zhang Sheng quite interesting, and the next day she even took the initiative to reconcile with Zhang Sheng's older sister. Zhang Sheng's older sister had always enjoyed playing jump rope and shuttlecock with Fengjie. Back then, to find playmates, she would even send the family's best food and drinks out the window to her friends. Girls are forgetful, unlike boys who hold grudges; the game of dropping the handkerchief really wouldn't be complete without Fengjie. Fengjie, like her father, was full of cunning, and she certainly couldn't miss out on the girls' games.

Zhang Sheng always enjoyed playing with his older sister's friends, but his older sister disliked this little brother, who followed them around like a shadow. Thinking back, when Zhang Sheng was five or six, he still went to the public bathhouse with his mother. Older women would often take their sons to bathe together. Don't worry, don't be afraid; five- or six-year-old boys' intelligence couldn't compare to today's children. Today's children are clever, but back then, children didn't understand anything and thought they were girls too. Boys were all raised like girls. Because the preference for sons was still quite strong, and there was the one-child policy, often the youngest son in a family was the third child, and these were often children who defied the policy. Some working-class families even gave up promotions and wage increases to have a son. So, sons, how much physical and mental suffering did their mothers and fathers endure for their sons? Feng Jie observed the situation and persuaded her older sister to allow Zhang Sheng to join the girls' games.

"Let him play with us, call him 'sister'."

"Sister, you're better than my sister."

"What's so good about it?"

"Sister Feng, take me to play."

"Okay, if she doesn't want to play with you anymore, you can come to my house."

"Okay, when are you going to play, Sister Feng?"

"anytime."

"That's great, Sister Feng."

Fengjie was arguably the first girl Zhang Sheng ever met. Zhang Sheng couldn't distinguish between men and women; he simply enjoyed playing with girls his age. He was incredibly shy, often remaining silent when women visited his home. The reason he was so friendly with Fengjie was mainly because they were neighbors, seeing each other all the time. Fengjie was his older sister's playmate, so he felt no shyness at all playing with her. Old Liang, seeing him all smiles, thought, "It's true what they say, 'No pain, no gain.'" Old Liang was very polite to his father, even inviting him to a celebratory drink. His son, Xiao Wu, had joined the army, and Old Liang had never been so happy in his life. He bought ten thousand firecrackers and set them off in front of his house.

The head of the armed forces department is no longer Lin Jingtai or Ma Luozi; the new head is the intimidatingly fierce-looking Zhen Luozi, which is his nickname. He's extremely high-profile, doesn't get along with Zhang Sheng's father, and now that he's been promoted, the old grudges haven't been resolved. Luozi believes that political power grows out of the barrel of a gun, and he considers himself a member of the people's armed forces. When Lao Liang's son, Xiao Wu, joined the army, he was the first to come and celebrate. Lao Liang's wife was busy in the kitchen, killing a large rooster and soaking winter mushrooms—picked from the mountains in autumn, sun-dried, and able to be stored for five or six years without spoiling. Lao Liang bought a large barrel of grain liquor from the distillery and canned fish from the department store. He also spent a lot of money to buy a large pig's head, which he cooked in an iron pot. He also made scrambled eggs with scallions, stewed green beans in lard, and stir-fried wild mountain vegetables like cow antler and monkey legs in rendered lard—the aroma was irresistible, making everyone's mouths water.

"Cheers, Lao Liang, it's an honor to be a soldier, Xiao Wu is really something!" — Zhen Luozi

"He doesn't look like me at all. He's grown to be 1.8 meters tall. Did I even give birth to him?" Old Liang asked.

"Old Liang, your wife will be angry if she hears this. Anyone can see your illegitimate child; who would dare to cuckold you?" —Zhen Luozi

"If I retire in the future and do what you do, my ancestors' graves will be filled with smoke."

"Come on, brother, have a drink too, have a drink, don't be shy, bottoms up." Old Liang

"Old Zhen, have a drink," Zhang Sheng's father said, trying to ease the tension.

"Back then, one of us was in the First Brigade, and the other in the Second Brigade, but we were both proletarian revolutionary fighters." - Zhen Luozi

Thanks to Xiao Wu's enlistment, Old Liang could finally stand tall. With joy on his face, the relationship between the two families finally broke down the barriers of the past and rose to the level of friendship. Old Liang's former banditry seemed to have been cleansed by Xiao Wu's military service; the shadows of the past had been completely washed away by his son's participation in the People's Liberation Army. This hidden fish could now swim freely in the ocean of the socialist family. The Armed Forces Minister, Zhen Luozi, presented him with another banner, recognizing him as a model of support for the army, because his son had indeed brought honor to the Armed Forces Department. Only Xiao Wu from the forest farm had joined the army; the other slots were not filled due to various subjective and objective factors.

In the eyes of the elderly couple, Xiao Wu was a martial arts champion, and with the neighbors' praise, they imagined he might become a general someday. The people living in the isolated forest were accustomed to everything being planned and arranged by the state. They didn't care what the outside world was like; everyone was of similar age and family circumstances. The only time they felt a slight imbalance was when discussing the rank of their husbands—the higher the rank, the higher the salary, representing the family's wealth. Old Liang was an exception; quite old and of low rank, he was most sensitive about his wife mentioning whose husband earned more money when they went to work.

“Other people’s fathers are already level eight workers, earning fifty or sixty yuan more than you. They only have five people in their family, while our family has almost ten.”

"Shut up, shut up, you're so despicable. Didn't you see how much land I've cultivated? In the past, I would have been a landlord."

"Don't mention your past shameful deeds, like being a landlord. If you drink too much, you'll bring up your old stories of fighting, robbing, and sexual assault."

"Why not? I want to scare them and make them afraid of me."

"You should stop now, Lao Liang. Who was so scared during the Cultural Revolution that they had nightmares all the time?"

"What am I afraid of? Heaven has eyes, I didn't kill anyone."

"Our son's in the army, let's just forget about the past!"

"It's all because of your slut, she brought it up first."

"Okay, okay, I won't mention it again. I'm going to cook."

"Feng'er, where are you going?"

"He's playing with the neighbor's kid."

"Keep a close eye on her, our Sister Feng has been a bit precocious lately."

"What are you afraid of? This kid's bird hasn't even grown any feathers yet, what can he do to Sister Feng?"

"What kind of nonsense are you thinking? Our Sister Feng is only fourteen years old, and that boy is only a few years old. I really want them to get engaged. The boy's father is quite talented. He can paint and write beautiful calligraphy."

Lately, Sister Feng has been particularly affectionate towards him. While other girls were all in groups playing jump rope, drop the handkerchief, or playing house, his older sisters wouldn't let him follow them. But he clung to his sisters like a little shadow. However, his sisters were like a game of hide-and-seek, disappearing without a trace. And being young, he often lost his bearings after just a few words.

In summer, the vegetables in every household's garden grow lush and green. He secretly picks cucumbers before they're fully ripe and eats them like cantaloupes. He's always worried about why the tomatoes are always green; when will they finally turn red? In the summer, when other fruits are still unripe, tomatoes are like red apples to him.

Mom often grumbled, "Why do the little cucumbers disappear after just a few days? Even a mouse, no matter how skilled, can't climb the cucumber trellis, and that fierce rooster is even more formidable than a dog. The big goose Grandma gave Mom and Dad at their wedding barks louder than a wolfhound. Could it be a big bird that likes to eat fruit? Did it snatch the cucumbers and tomatoes from the moonlit night sky in the dead of night? Birds eat insects, though." So Mom tied red string to the unripe cucumbers as a marker. Seeing the red, the animals certainly wouldn't dare steal them anymore. She hadn't considered that it was her son's doing. Her son usually didn't even greet strangers; an honest child like him wouldn't do something like stealing cucumbers. One day, just as he was about to pick cucumbers, Sister Feng whispered through the fence, "Don't pick any this time. Come to my garden, and you can eat all the cucumbers here."

Fengjie was six or seven years older than him. She accidentally discovered that this was a good day for an affair, because both families' adults had gone out. Now only he and she were separated by a fence made of tree branches and vines from the mountain. He was old enough to climb the wall, and the fence was not high and the gaps were quite wide.

"Sister Feng, aren't you afraid?"

"What are you afraid of? Come here, let's play together, okay?"

"I'm willing, Sister Feng."

"Then come over here, and you can have all the cucumbers in this garden."

"Really, you're so good to me, Sister Feng." The child still had a pure and innocent heart. Just thinking about the beautiful sister, Sister Feng gave him cucumbers to eat and took him to play. He was so happy that he didn't think about anything else and jumped over the fence. Sister Feng hugged him with both hands and gently kissed him.

"Sister Feng, why did you kiss me?"

"I like you, don't you want me to?"

"Sister Feng, you are welcome to do it yourself, but don't let outsiders see."

"It's just the two of us, don't be shy, don't call me sister."

Why Sister Feng?

"For no reason, I just don't like it when you call me 'sister,' it sounds too formal."

"All right!"

"Let's eat cucumbers."

"Sister Feng, why are you so nice to me? You even gave me cucumbers to eat."

I like it for no reason.

The two picked all the cucumbers in the garden. Fengjie laughed at his greedy eating. The laughter of other children coming from outside the fence seemed to disturb their innocent childhood friendship.

"Sister Feng, you are so beautiful."

"How is it beautiful?"

"Anyway, your eyes, face, and eyebrows are all beautiful."

"Aren't you ashamed?"

"It looks good, so I won't say anything if you don't like it."

"Don't be angry. Even if you don't want to pay me back, I still gave you so many delicious things."

The sky was filled with white clouds, the sun was shining brightly, and it was almost noon. It was quite hot. Fengjie was wearing a polyester dress, and the little flowers on the floral fabric seemed to be blooming in the sunlight. She had been playing in the garden for a long time. Sometimes the melon vines would scratch her arms, and Fengjie would gently rub and massage them with her hands.

"Sister Feng, it's getting late, I need to go home."

"Why go home? They won't be back until five o'clock."

"how do you know?"

"Don't ask, I knew it. It's just the two of us today, isn't it great?" Sister Feng said, her face turning slightly pink.

"Sister Feng's face turned red." Sister Feng's brothers all went to work at the construction site today. There were also parent-teacher meetings and other group activities, but Sister Feng made an excuse that she wasn't feeling well and didn't go.

Let's play house together.

"Okay."

"I will be your wife."

"I will be your husband."

"Let's go home."

"Which home?"

"Our home."

"where is it?"

"In my family's storage room."

"Sister Feng, I like it."

"nice! You love it."

Call me wife.

"wife"

"Ugh"

"Sister Feng, what did you call me?"

"husband"

How should I answer?

"Talking about wives"

"wife"

"husband"

"Sister Feng, let's go live in the storeroom."

The storeroom was quiet, sunlight filtering through the gaps in the eaves, illuminating piles of finished wooden planks. The floor was paved with solid yellow mud. Now it was just the two of them, quiet and peaceful. They were no longer strangers; it seemed as if they had truly become a couple.

Do you want to see me?

"Yes, Sister Feng, I've been wanting to see you all this time!"

"No, that's not how you see it."

"Sister Feng, what's your opinion?"

“Look at my body.”

"Sister Feng, aren't I looking at your body right now?"

"Since we're husband and wife now, we have to consider each other's health."

"what?"

"You don't want to?"

"Sister Feng, I'm willing, of course I'm willing."

"Okay, listen to me, just do as I say."

"Wife, I'll do whatever you say."

"What an obedient husband."

"It's really fun being with Sister Feng."

"Idiot, hurry up and do it."

"Sister Feng, why are you hitting me?"

"Lift up my skirt and then look."

"Sister Feng, I dare not look."

"Don't be afraid, it's just the two of us."

He finally lifted Sister Feng's skirt, but she was still wearing a pair of red shorts.

"Sister Feng, your skirt is up, and there are red shorts underneath."

"Then let's continue."

"what?"

"Then keep helping me take it off."

"Sister Feng, I dare not."

"Coward, coward, do it, be a man."

"I am not a coward, I am not a coward, I am a real man."

"Then why aren't you taking them off?"

"You've already taken them all off, isn't that enough?"

Under Sister Feng's verbal guidance, he finally stripped off all of her clothes, staring at her with a flushed face and a thick neck, wondering why Sister Feng's body was different from his own.

"It's your turn to take it off, take it off!"

"Take it off then, who's afraid of who?"

"what happened?"

"Sister Feng, I'm scared."

"Idiot, I'll help you."

Sister Feng finally helped him transform into Fan Binbin's naked form. Fan Binbin was a well-known naked boy in Dahe Forest Farm. He especially hated wearing clothes and spent all day running around naked while being chased by his sister Fan Meimei, fully exposing his nature. He just loved little boys with bare bottoms.