Chapter One: The Young Boy with the Braided Hair

  The sun sets in the west, and the sweltering heat of midsummer is no longer so oppressive. A gentle southeast breeze blows by, and the leaves of the trees that have just recovered from the scorching heat rustle softly. On the west side of Xiaowan Village, more than a hundred households are scattered about, with smoke rising from their chimneys, drifting lazily upwards and dispersing into the air. On the east side of the village, the Zhuang River flows quietly around a bend, its gentle ripples reflecting the sunset and shimmering with golden light. The occasional barking of dogs and crowing of chickens all indicate that Xiaowan Village is a peaceful and harmonious little village, but this tranquility was suddenly shattered by some shouting.

  "Beat him, beat him, beat him..." Under the banyan tree at the west end of the village, a group of children clapped their hands and jumped up and down shouting.

  In the circle, two boys were entwined, panting heavily, using all their strength to try and knock each other to the ground. The two boys were about ten years old, one was sturdier while the other was thinner. Their wrestling had reached a fever pitch, the thin boy was clearly running out of breath, his small feet sliding backwards on the ground, leaving two streaks behind. The sturdy boy took another step forward, suddenly lifting one foot and tripping up the thin boy's legs, the thin boy could no longer hold on and fell backwards. The sturdy boy took advantage of the momentum to pin down the thin boy, not letting him turn over.

  "Hey, little three, do you admit defeat?" The sturdy boy pressed down on the frail boy with all his might, panting as he shouted.

  "Not satisfied, not satisfied, we'll compete again tomorrow."

  The sturdy little boy burst out laughing, jumped up from the ground and said: "You've been thrown down by me seven or eight times, and you still don't admit defeat. Are we going to have a rematch tomorrow? Am I supposed to be afraid of you?"

  Xiao San didn't get up either, sat on the ground, hugged her knees and said: "One day, I will knock you down."

  The little kids beside him scratched their faces with their index fingers and shouted: "Aren't you ashamed? You've been knocked down so many times, and you still want to compete."

  Xiao San got up from the ground, dusting himself off, and said: "No shame, no shame! Let's play a game of General Fight next. Today it's my turn to be the general."

  "No way! You always lose at wrestling, how can you be a general?" The kids shouted.

  "Zhuge Liang is also not good at wrestling, how can he be a general?"

  "Zhuge Liang is not a general, but a military advisor."

  ……

  A group of children ran chattering and laughing towards the riverbank.

  This was in the 47th year of Wanli (1619) in the Ming dynasty, and Xiaowan Village belonged to Jiangling County, Jingzhou Prefecture. Almost all men in Xiaowan Village were surnamed Lin. Xiao San's name was Lin Chunhong, and he was the third son in his family, so his nickname was "Xiao San". The sturdy boy just now was Xiao San's younger brother, who had not yet come of age, named Lin Chunda. According to the elderly people in the village, during the Hongwu Emperor's time, two brothers from Nanchang Prefecture came to Xiaowan Village and settled down, and all those with the surname Lin were descendants of these two brothers. The current head of the clan was Lin Guomao, who was also the grandfather of Lin Chunda and held the position of village chief, and because he handled matters fairly, his prestige in the village was quite high.

  The men in Xiaowan Village mostly make a living by farming, and when they are free from farm work, they go fishing in the Zhuo-Jiang River or lakes. The women can all spin yarns and weave cloth, and on market days, they take them to the county town to sell, which can also supplement their family expenses. Therefore, although Xiaowan Village is not rich, it is peaceful and safe, and life is quite smooth.

  "Mother, I'm back." Xiaosan shouted as soon as he arrived at the door, covered in dust. Then he rushed to the water tank in the house, grabbed a ladle and poured cold water into his stomach.

  Xiao San's mother, Li, heard the noise and rushed out, grabbing Xiao San's hand and scolding: "I've told you so many times not to drink from the water jug, only boiled water." After finishing speaking, she poured a bowl of cooled boiled water and handed it to Xiao San.

  Xiao San smiled and took over the bowl from her mother's hand, continuing to drink.

  Mother patted the dust off Sanzi's body, muttering: "Fighting with others again? I told you not to fight, look, your arm is all red from being pinched..."

  Xiao San ignored his mother's complaints and excitedly said: "Mother, I became a general today. Tie Tou and Da Zhuang listened to me, they did whatever I told them to do. The dogs in the village were all chased away by us..."

  Xiao San suddenly stopped and found his mother staring at him blankly.

  "Mother, what's wrong?" Little San grabbed his mother's hand and shook it, asking.

  "Oh, when the general is good, when the general is good..." Mother casually said, "Today mother wants you to recite 'Rustic Integrity Refuses to Submit to Qin', have you memorized it?"

  "I've memorized it long ago, Mother. Listen: 'The Qin State besieged the Zhao State in Handan. King Anxi of Wei sent General Jin Bi to rescue Zhao, but fearing Qin, he stopped at Dangyin...'"

  "Alright, alright, I know." A smile appeared on Mother's face.

  "Mother, Father and elder brothers, why haven't they come back for dinner yet?"

  "Your dad and them went to the county town to sell fish, should be back soon, when they come back we'll have dinner."

  "Time for dinner! Time for dinner!" Little San exclaimed.

  The moon was above the treetops, and Little Three had already fallen asleep on the cool bed outside. In the summer, Jingzhou Prefecture was too hot, so people usually slept outdoors to escape the heat. Since Father and two elder brothers returned home, Little Three kept asking Big Brother how to knock down Big Strong. Big Brother couldn't bear it anymore, taught Little Three a move, and only then did he fall asleep contentedly. However, his parents and two elder brothers had not gone to sleep yet and were still discussing things.

  "Hey, how come over 300 catties of fish were sold for just over 100 wen?" Mother asked while fanning herself with a palm-leaf fan to shoo away mosquitoes.

  "There are too many people selling fish." Father Lin Dewen's words were brief.

  "The weather is sweltering, a lot of fish in the lake have died, and there are people selling fish everywhere. Moreover, which family in Jiangling County doesn't catch fish? And not many people are buying," added Big Brother Lin Chunzhi.

  "I heard that the tax collector is going to increase taxes this year, and we still have to pay rent at the end of the year. What can be done?" Mother recalled the arrogance of the tax collector in previous years and couldn't help but worry.

  The whole family fell into silence...

  "After a long silence, Second Brother Lin Chunren said: 'It would be great if we could sell the fish to places where there are fewer fish.'"

  His father shook his head and said, "It won't work. The fish will spoil. Besides, after paying the tolls and taxes along the way, you won't make much money."

  The whole family discussed it and couldn't come up with anything, so they just didn't think about paying taxes.

  "His father, Liaodong really lost?"

  "He was defeated miserably. Chen Gouzzi barely escaped from Liaodong with his life, one arm crippled." Father bowed his head, his eyebrows tightly furrowed.

  "How did we end up losing... I don't know..." Mother hesitated under Father's gaze.

  Big brother Lin Chunzhi is already 17 years old, instinctively guessing that his parents have worries, but he doesn't dare to ask. In the past, as soon as he asked, his father would get angry. Second brother Lin Chunren was only 14 years old and didn't even know where Liaodong was, he just asked: "Is Chen Gouzzi the same Chen uncle from a few days ago? He's also quite pitiful, why not let him stay at our house?"

  "Second brother! How many times have I told you, don't mention Uncle Chen!" the eldest brother scolded loudly.

  Lin Chunren was startled by his elder brother's scolding and looked at his father with a frightened expression.

  Lin De's sword-like eyebrows were upside down, and a sharp light flashed in his tiger eyes as he said coldly: "Your elder brother is right, don't tell anyone that someone has been to our house!"

  Lin Chunren was so frightened by his father's expression that he didn't dare speak again, burying his doubts deep in his heart.

  The mother sighed and said: "It's also good to arrange it in the mountain, that hunter is trustworthy."

  "Sleep, sleep, we have to get up early tomorrow to go to the fields." Father gave the order.

  But his mother still couldn't sleep, and the sound of spinning wheels echoed again on the Lin family's drying field, and Li spun yarn all night.

  On the second day, Xiaosan woke up early and hastily ate his meal before finding Dawei to compare notes. The two men again entwined themselves into a ball, evenly matched in strength. Dawei was full of confidence, waiting for Xiaosan to exhaust himself so he could throw him down, but unexpectedly Xiaosan suddenly withdrew his strength and dodged to the side, causing Dawei to lose control of his feet and fall to the ground with a thud. Xiaosan took advantage of the situation to pin Dawei down and shouted: "Do you concede?" Dawei loudly retorted: "You cheated! I don't concede!"

  Xiao San let go of Da Zhuang, jumped aside and said: "No matter if you admit it or not, I've already knocked you down."

  The little kids next to me were shouting: "Little San cheated, it doesn't count, it doesn't count." Some other kids shouted: "Big Zhuang lost."

  Dazhuang got up from the ground and said to Xiaosan: "Even if you win, I won't wrestle with you again." Xiaosan's face showed a triumphant smile.

  Tie Tou laughed and said: "Xiao San, don't be so smug. Da Zhuang has been annoyed for a long time and didn't want to wrestle with you at all."

  "Fine, don't compare then! Losing once and retreating with your tail between your legs, how spineless!"

  Tie Tou didn't care about the little three, and mysteriously said: "I heard that Chen Gang Village has a new scholar who is teaching children to read books. Let's go take a look." Tie Tou was of higher rank, called Lin De Shao, and older in age, so all the children listened to him, shouting: "Let's go see, let's go see!"

  Chen Gang Village is on the east side of the Zhuo River, and after crossing a stone arch bridge, you arrive. Seven or eight children are leaning against the window, secretly peeking inside. Inside, several children are reading books, and Mr. Xiūcai is also reading. Look at Mr. Xiūcai sitting in a taishi chair, swaying back and forth, his voice growing louder as he reads: "The gentleman says: If faith does not come from within, it will be of no benefit. With clarity and understanding, one must act with propriety, even if there is no tangible evidence, who can intervene..."

  The children outside the window all covered their mouths and burst out laughing. Tie Tou whispered, "So this is what a scholar looks like! Little San, your mother teaches you to read every day, tell us, what does a scholar read?" Little San shook his head indicating he didn't know. The others didn't think much of it either and continued to peek inside. At this moment, the teacher suddenly shouted "Stop!" The children's reading voices came to an abrupt halt. The teacher continued, "Now it's time for recitation, you will take turns in order."

  Then a child walked up to the gentleman and recited: "In the past, Xianwen instructed you repeatedly... When wine meets a bosom friend, poetry is recited to... to..." The child couldn't continue any further. San couldn't help but answer: "Poetry is recited to those who appreciate it." The gentleman turned towards the window and shouted: "Who?"

  The children outside ran away immediately. As a result, Xiaosan tripped over a piece of wood and fell to the ground, and was dragged back into the house by Mr. who had just walked out the door.

  "Who are you? Why are you outside the window?"

  Xiao San lowered his head and stammered: "I am Lin Chunhong from Xiaowan Village, everyone said they had never seen a scholar, so I came to take a look at you."

  "Can you read? Who taught you?"

  "My mother teaches me every day."

  The gentleman secretly thought it was strange, knowing that men who could read were rarely seen, let alone women.

  "What books do you usually read?" the gentleman continued to ask.

  "My family doesn't have any books, my mother drew them on the ground to teach me." Xiaosan said, and her eyes immediately glanced at the book Mr. had just read. The cover of the book was written with the big characters "Spring and Autumn Annals", Xiaosan firmly remembered it in her heart.

  The teacher followed San's line of sight and was delighted to see that the kid was interested in this book. The teacher pretended to be angry, saying: "Don't lean on the window sill again, got it?"

  Xiao San nodded slightly.

  "You can go."

  ……

  The children of Xiaowan Village were still waiting not far from the school, and when they saw San coming out, they chattered and asked: "Did the scholar beat you?" "What did the scholar say to you?"... San answered one by one, and a group of people lost interest and returned home. After returning home, San entwined his mother and asked what "Chunqiu Zuo Zhuan" was. His mother learned about today's events from San's mouth, although she wanted to buy a few books for her sons, but the family was struggling financially, so she had to give up. The next day in the morning, San waited outside the school, he didn't dare to lie on the windowsill, watching from afar. Unexpectedly, all his movements fell under the teacher's eyes, and the teacher deliberately ignored him, looking at how long he could linger. Near the end of school, San was still there, suddenly seeing the teacher walking over, he ran away with a burst of speed.

  "Halt! Don't you dare run!" the gentleman shouted.

  Xiao San had no choice but to stand still, the gentleman only said one sentence "Follow me", and then turned around and left. Xiao San followed the gentleman into a house. It turned out that this was where the gentleman lived, inside there were only some daily necessities, except for a bookshelf filled with books. Xiao San's eyes stared at the bookshelf, unable to move away.

  "Want to read books?"

  "Hmm!" Xiaosan nodded heavily.

  "Alright, starting from tomorrow, you will come here every morning to copy books. You are only allowed to take away the ones you have copied, and none of my books can be moved."

  "But I don't have paper and pen ink?"

  The master took out some paper and pen ink, saying: "All of these are for you to use."

  Xiao San couldn't help but feel happy and immediately wanted to get started.

  The master smiled and said: "Starting tomorrow, let's forget about today."

  Xiao San's parents learned of this and immediately arranged to send some gifts to the master. Since they didn't have anything valuable at home, they could only catch an old hen and bring a basket of eggs to give to the master, but all were rejected by the master. From then on, Xiao San would go to the master's place every morning to copy books, and read and recite in the afternoons and evenings. The books that interested Xiao San the most were "Zuo Zhuan" and "Zhanguo Ce", and the master followed his interests, even pointing out some things to him during leisure time.

  Time flies, and before long, it was the first year of Tianqi (1621). Xiaosan still had to do some physical labor in the fields every afternoon, such as feeding pigs and herding cattle. Labor can temper one's physique and endurance, and Xiaosan is no longer as weak as he used to be. He is now stronger than Dazhuang. Dazhuang has also started reading books, while Tietou has been busy with his father's livelihood for a long time. Xiaosan's life was fulfilling and stable until one day the Lin family had a dispute.

  "I won't go, let Third Brother go alone." Lin Jiazhuan's resolute voice came from the Lin family.

  "You're still too young and can't help Father much. Just let your elder brother stay home alone." Mother kept advising Lin Chunren.

  "How can I not help much? I can fish, I can support the plow, I can plant rice seedlings and harvest wheat, what can't I do?" Lin Chunren argued with a red face and thick neck.

  "Second brother won't go, I won't go either. I can still herd cattle and cut pig grass. Besides, I still have to follow the teacher to copy..." Little San shouted loudly, but was fiercely glared at by his mother, swallowing back the rest of his words unfinished. Mother couldn't persuade the two brothers, so she had no choice but to turn her pleading gaze towards Father.

  His father remained silent for a while before finally saying, "Let Xiaosan go alone then."

  Father's words cannot be disobeyed, Lin Chunren looked at his mother with satisfaction and then looked at his third brother.

  Originally, since the year before last, Lin Dewen and Lin Chunzhi had discovered that the Zhe River and the Yangtze River would drift many trees during the summer. The father and son duo were good swimmers, so they took risks to salvage the wood and sell it for some money to get through the past two years. However, this summer, the father and son found that there were constantly floating corpses coming down from the Yangtze River. Judging from their clothes, they should be government soldiers. Lin Dewen keenly felt that there might be a war disaster upstream, and he also thought of a group of bandits who had appeared in a place more than 20 miles northwest of Xiawan Village, kidnapping, killing people, and harming the countryside. The father wanted to send his two young sons to the hunter's place in the mountains.

  The next morning, Xiao San went to bid farewell to the master. The master sighed and gave Xiao San a book he liked, reminding him before leaving: "I know you don't like reading the Four Books and Five Classics, take these history books with you, don't forget to read them often!"

  Xiao San knelt down with both knees on the ground and kowtowed, saying: "Master, take good care of your body."

  The gentleman turned and left, ignoring his bow. As he walked away, he sang: "Go, go, go! Sighing deeply to hide my tears... Alas, the people's lives are full of hardships..."

  Xiao San stood outside the door for a long time before reluctantly leaving, turning her head to look back, Mr.'s small wooden house looked so lonely and desolate...