My dad was the youngest of seven siblings. He was an exceptional athlete back in elementary school. He was also talented at beating people up. In his own words, he could “throw three kids to the ground just like throwing three chickens back into their coop.” But because our family used to own land, he was not allowed to go to high school. Instead he went back home and tended sheep with his father. He’d leave their two dozen sheep by the riverbank and catch fish, or search for bird eggs in the reeds with his friends. The communal dining hall never had enough food, and the boys were always hungry.
My mum’s education also ended with middle school. She went on to work as a nurse in the village clinic until she met my dad through a mutual acquaintance. After they married, she quit her job and became a full-time mother. My sister, Yongzhen, once said that we four siblings had held her back. Mum just smiled and said, “Nobody can look into the future.” She’s now in her 60s, but she still works out in our field every day.
Yongzhen was born in 1983, followed by my older brother, Liushun, two years later. I arrived in 1987, followed by my little brother, Liutong, in 1990. By the time I was born, my family was so poor that my parents struggled to put enough food on the table. Dad started thinking about leaving the village and finding work elsewhere.