Chapter 4: Sun Family Village

Sun Bomin and his wife, Su, returned to their room and tucked themselves under the quilt. Su, who lacked status in the household and had no say in family matters, thought of her elder sister-in-law's son, Jin, who was about to take the preliminary imperial examinations. Tentatively, she asked, "Master, do you think we should send Shan to school?"

Shan was short and thin. He ate plenty but could never seem to put on weight. Before he turned three, he had been ill every single day, and it was only in the last two years that his health had slightly improved. Looking at him, it was clear he would not be as capable at farm work as his father. It would be better for him to study and find a job as a clerk, ideally working for his aunt in the prefectural city. That would be relaxed, and with his aunt to look after him, it would be far better than staying home to toil in the fields.

Sun Bomin had also been considering this. Schooling was certainly necessary, and the family had enough savings to afford it. His main worry was that Shan’s constitution was too weak to endure the hardships of study. He remembered when his own father was still alive and he had been sent to study with Scholar Zheng in the neighboring village. He had been caned by the scholar every single time, a truly miserable experience. Thinking that his son might suffer the same fate, he was hesitant to send him off so early.

"Is Shan not too young?" he asked with hesitation. "Shouldn't we wait until he’s a bit older before sending him to Scholar Zheng to learn his characters?"

Su did not know about Sun Bomin’s childhood trauma. She thought for a moment; Shan was indeed small, a head shorter than his peers. "He is a bit small, but I’ve heard that one should start studying early—the older they get, the harder it is to learn. I heard from my sister-in-law that Jin began his enlightenment at age three. Shan is already five; he’s a full two years behind."

Sun Bomin scoffed, thinking Su was overthinking things. He replied bluntly, "How can Shan compare to Jin? Jin is destined to become an official. Shan only needs to learn a few characters so he can work at his aunt’s house."

His sister had long said that the boys in the family should be sent to study and learn to read so that they would be employable. She had even whispered to Sun Bomin that she had already arranged Shan’s future: once he grew up, he would go to the prefectural city to work. He should not remain in Sun Family Village, as there was no future or hope there. She had added that while she could not guarantee the prospects of the other brothers' children, she would certainly look after Shan.

Hearing her husband speak of their son this way, Su felt a flicker of resentment, but being timid by nature, she dared not argue and could only simmer in silence. *Our Shan may not compare to Jin, but he is steady. He will surely have a bright future.*

The couple chatted a while longer before drifting into a peaceful sleep. It was cold outside, but the room was cozy under the quilts, making it the perfect night for sleep.

Sun Shan rubbed his eyes. Dawn had broken. He pulled back the quilt, felt the chill, and immediately dove back in, unwilling to get up. He turned to look at his grandmother's bed; it was already empty. Sunlight spilled in through the bedroom’s small window—it could not be early. Struggling for a while, he finally threw off the covers, quickly donned his thick cotton-padded jacket, socks, and shoes, and felt instantly warm.

He walked out of the bedroom and through the main hall. Everything was quiet; it seemed the adults had already gone to work. Rural life was monotonous and dreary, with only a few days around the New Year offering any respite.

"Shan, you little lazybones, you’re finally awake." His eldest sister’s voice drifted from the kitchen. The fourteen-year-old girl was short and slender, with a sharp face and slightly yellowish hair.

"Big Sister, I need to rinse my mouth and wash my face." Sun Shan walked into the kitchen. He was prone to oversleeping in winter, likely due to his frail health—he had been a premature baby and had been sick often since birth.

"Coming, I’ve prepared it for you." Sun Guyu knew her younger brother liked things clean. He used salt water to rinse his mouth and had even insisted on buying a bristle brush to clean his teeth; he was the only one in the house so fastidious. She handed him his things and scooped some hot water from the large iron pot, setting it aside. "Use the hot water for your face."

She then took a bowl of rice porridge from the smaller pot, topped with a bit of brown sugar. "Wash up, then eat your breakfast," she said with a smile. The family usually ate two meals a day—breakfast and dinner. But her brother and grandmother were different; after breakfast, she would have to boil some sweet potatoes at noon to tide them over. Her mother had said that whether the four sisters would have a good family to marry into depended entirely on their brother. If he did well, they would have the confidence to face their in-laws.

Sun Shan finished washing quickly. These simple amenities had only been won after much pestering. Sun Bomin thought his son was incredibly difficult to please, insisting on using salt to rinse his mouth. If he weren’t the only male heir, he would have been met with a wooden rod long ago. And that bristle brush—it had cost twenty wen, enough to buy two pounds of pork. *Sigh, I’ve raised a spendthrift son,* he often thought, unable to voice his frustration.

Sun Shan took the brown sugar porridge and squatted on a small wooden stool in the kitchen to eat. It was warm in the kitchen, and his sister was boiling pig feed; the firewood crackled and popped. Sun Shan lost himself in thought as he ate.

Seeing her little brother staring blankly again, Guyu shook her head, accustomed to his dazed demeanor. She hoped he would only do this at home, never where outsiders could see. There were many gossiping women who had seen him sitting alone on the field ridges and had actually called him a fool, claiming he was born in an unlucky spot, which was why he had turned out slow-witted. When their parents heard this, they had confronted the gossips, leading to a massive argument. Had the village head not arrived in time, they might have come to blows.

Guyu sighed, secretly fearing they might be right. Her brother was truly different from other boys. How could she put it? His eyes were often vacant and dull, much like the "village fool" in the neighboring hamlet. At this thought, she hurriedly shook her head. How could her brother be a fool? He was just quiet and didn't like to talk.

Sun Shan, now fed and watered, had no idea what his sister was thinking. He had heard the rumors about him being a "simpleton," but he didn't care to argue. Whether he was a fool or not, he knew the truth best.

He prepared to take the bowls and chopsticks out to wash, but Guyu stopped him, snatching them away with a smile. "A man shouldn't be doing the dishes; you’ll be laughed at. Let me do it, go play." She took the dishes out to the well to wash.

Sun Shan sighed. Under the brainwashing of their father and mother, his four sisters were already well on their way to becoming "brother-worshippers," treating him as the absolute center of the world.

He stepped out of the kitchen and surveyed the Sun family’s farmstead. It was quite spacious, laid out in a "U" shape, all built with blue bricks and sturdy roof tiles. The main house had three rooms: a living room, his grandmother Huang's bedroom, and a grain storage room. The left wing had three rooms: his parents' bedroom, the sisters' bedroom, and a spare room for visiting relatives. The right wing also had three rooms: two for storage and one for the kitchen and bathing. In front of the main house was an open courtyard, and beyond the gate stood a well, so the family didn't need to go to the village’s main well for water. Next to the main compound, they had even built two mud-brick structures specifically for keeping pigs and cattle, keeping people and livestock separated, unlike other households where they lived under the same roof.

In Sun Family Village, the Suns were considered wealthy. These nine large brick rooms eclipsed 99.99% of the homes in the village.

Just then, Guyu brought out the pig feed to feed the livestock next door. Sun Shan went to help, but she pushed him away. "No need, I can do it myself. You go play." Her brother was weak, and she dared not let him do such heavy labor.

Sun Shan sighed and let it go. Every time he tried to do anything, the men and women of the house would push him aside. In their eyes, he was a porcelain doll that couldn't be touched and had to be raised with extreme caution. If he insisted, the four sisters would be the ones to suffer the consequences. Sun Bomin and his grandmother Huang didn't say much, but his mother, Su—despite her timid nature—was ruthless when it came to scolding her four daughters. *Why must women make things so difficult for other women?* he thought. The preference for boys over girls was often most severe among women themselves.

No longer forcing the issue, Sun Shan looked at the sun; it was likely around ten o'clock. The weather was very comfortable, and the sunlight felt warm on his face. He walked out of the house, passing the pigsty and the cattle shed. There were two pigs being fattened for the New Year, but the cattle shed was empty; his second sister must have taken the cow out to graze.

The houses in Sun Family Village were laid out in a grid, with the village road running straight and homes built on either side. The Sun residence was right in the center. With mud-brick houses as neighbors, their blue-brick mansion appeared particularly solemn and imposing.

Walking through the village and out the gate, he saw a stretch of farmland. Although the rice had been harvested, some villagers were cultivating plots for green vegetables so they would have something to eat during the New Year.

Sun Shan reached his usual spot by the Jin River and sat down. He picked up a stone and tossed it into the water out of boredom. He looked up at the grey, endless mountains stretching one after another in the distance.

Sun Family Village belonged to Huangyang County, under the jurisdiction of Zhangzhou Prefecture in Guangnan Province, and was governed by Mingyang Town. The entire village consisted of about thirty households and roughly five hundred people. Everyone in the village shared the surname Sun and worshipped the same ancestors. Neighbors were all relatives, so marriage within the village was forbidden. Men married in from outside, and women married out.