Chapter One

  Opening

  On September 18, 1984, the autumn had deepened and the weather had turned cool. At around 10 o'clock in the evening, a loud clap of thunder suddenly rang out, followed by a heavy downpour. It was rare to have such a storm in autumn, especially in late autumn when it should be drizzling rain instead.

  In a small village on the southwestern border of China, a baby boy was born, and his first cry echoed through the air. The midwife handed the child over to the father, saying, "Congratulations! You've got a boy! Look at him, he's got thick eyebrows and a clear face. He'll surely bring prosperity to your family."

  The father, who had been waiting anxiously, smiled and said, "I hope so too. We've already got three daughters, and now we finally have a son." He then handed the child over to his younger sister and took out a red cloth package from his pocket, saying to the midwife, "Here's the money we agreed on. Take it."

  The midwife quickly opened the package and found two brand-new one-yuan bills inside. She was thrilled, as one yuan was a lot of money back then, and she usually only got one yuan for delivering a baby. The extra yuan made her face light up with joy, and she said, "I'll take it! Congratulations on having a son, Old Yuan. I won't disturb you anymore. I'll leave now, no need to see me out."

  The midwife took her umbrella and walked into the rainy night, leaving behind the father, who had taken the child from his sister. His weathered face creased with wrinkles, but his eyes shone with paternal love as he looked at the baby.

  Just then, his younger sister said, "Brother, have you thought of a name for the baby? If not, we can ask the village teacher to suggest one tomorrow." The father replied, "I've already thought of a name. Let's call him Yuan Huan. I hope he'll grow up with a broad and kind heart, treating everyone with kindness."

  And so, a legendary figure was born, destined to be a complex and contradictory person - ruthless towards his enemies but kind and generous towards his friends, family, and loved ones.

  Let us follow his journey as he rises from obscurity to the pinnacle of power, leaving a trail of storms in his wake across China and the world.

  Childhood

  This year Yuan Hao is eight years old.

  In the mountains and forests, four children of average size are surrounding a raccoon dog.

  The badger, also known as the dog badger or Eurasian badger, is a mammal distributed throughout most of Europe and Asia. It belongs to the weasel family. The badger's limbs are short and strong, with long claws on its front paws that are similar in length to its toes. The badger is classified into its own genus. Its body weight can reach 15 kg, with a body length of 50 cm and a tail length of 10 cm. There are five subspecies. It has a stout body, small head, long snout, small eyes, short ears, and short neck and tail. The badger's fur is usually gray, with black on its belly, and white stripes on its face. Its nose has developed nasal pads, similar to those of pigs, which is why it is also called the pig badger. The tips of its ears are white. The badger's skin, hair, meat, and medicine are all highly valued. It mainly eats earthworms but also insects, beetles, and small mammals. Its skin is used as material for high-end clothing. The badger's teeth are extremely sharp and hard.

  This badger is very cunning, jumping up and down, and in a short while it finds a hole to drill into.

  "This won't work, this thing is too cunning. We've been squatting for more than a day."

  The speaker was a child under the age of ten, named Dongshengdi, nicknamed Er Gou. The child was very thin and weak, with no color on his face due to long-term malnutrition. He wore ordinary clothes, a deep blue jacket and pants, which were shiny from not being washed for a long time. His hair was messy, and there were several scratches on his face with blood stains.

  "Yes, we can't fully exert ourselves here. This thing is very cunning and has been lurking around this area for a day before we knew it often appears in this area. Now it's hidden in the cave, and it will be difficult for us to catch it again."

  This man is Da Gou, the elder brother of Er Gou. His name is Dong Sheng Tian.

  Like his younger brother, Da Gou is also very thin and weak, even more so than his younger brother. He looks very delicate. He dresses simply, basically in plain clothes and cloth shoes. Compared to his younger brother, Da Gou is much more refined and intelligent.

  "Never mind, I won't catch that dog today, it's too hard to catch. I want to eat rabbit meat. Da Shuai, Da Shuai, go and catch a rabbit for me, we'll roast rabbit meat tonight."

  Yuán Hào, this is the head of these four children.

  Been mischievous since childhood. At the age of eight, he was expelled from school after only a few days. Now he spends his days taking Big Dog, Second Dog, and Da Shuai to hunt in the mountains and fish in the river.

  Yuankui is quite tall, about 1.5 meters, an eight-year-old child with this height is rarely seen. Although he has a childish face, he reveals a clever and cunning look.

  Keeping a small flat head was a relatively popular hairstyle at that time.

  Opposite him stood a big man nearly 1.8 meters tall, but he looked a bit dull and stupid.

  His name is Da Sha, he's an orphan, no one knows where he came from or how old he is, and whether he has parents. He has always lived in the broken temple behind the village.

  The big fool wore a tattered coat, which was torn all over, and his gray pants were too short, exposing his calves outside, with a pair of green rubber shoes on his feet.

  Big fool, where can catch rabbits? Also don't know how to answer Yuan Huan, just stupidly stared at him, and foolishly smiled at him.

  Yuán Hào originally had a belly full of fire and kicked Dà Shǎ with one foot.

  "You only know how to laugh. What else can you do in a day besides eating and sleeping? You've grown up to be so big, but looking at you makes me feel like I'm wasting my breath."

  Big fool didn't dodge, since following Yuan Huan, he didn't know how many kicks he had taken, and each time he wasn't allowed to make a sound or cry out in pain.

  Still as always, he maintained his silly and naive smile.

  "Hao Ge, why are you in such a hurry with that fool?" Er Gou advised from the side.

  "No way, I have to think of a way to deal with this fool. He doesn't do anything all day and I don't know if he's really stupid or just pretending to be."

  Yuán Hào was furious and said to Da Sha:

  Leaving Da Sha aside, Yuan Huan began to think of ways to deal with Da Sha.

  After some deliberation, Yuan Hua decided to lure Da Sha into that thatched hut at the village entrance and then throw him down.

  。。。。。。

  A few bad boys succeeded in their scheme and left, leaving Dafu alone in the toilet. Dafu didn't care about them and got up by himself, walking towards the river outside the village. Along the way, villagers saw this fool, who was so dirty, and they all avoided him in a hurry.

  Hao's father, Yuan Tian Gang.

  At this time, he happened to come out of Old Zhang's house next door to help with the woodwork. After just finishing dinner, Old Zhang asked him to sit for a while, thinking that there were still things at home, Dad Huan carried his tools and left Old Zhang's house.

  Ran into you, Aunt Li. I was just about to greet her when she spoke up first.

  "Tian Gua brothers, your family's Yuan Huan has caused trouble again. He deceived the fool from the broken temple at the back of the village into the thatched cottage and threw him in. You'd better go take a look, or something big might happen."

  Yuán Tiān Gāng, Yuán Hào's father, is a honest and simple farmer. At the age of 60, he has three daughters and one son under his knees. His daughters are all obedient, but this rascal of a son never gives him a moment's peace.

  After hearing what the neighbor said, Yuan Tian couldn't stay there any longer and hurriedly got up to go to the river outside the village to see if Da Sha was still there.

  Coming to the riverbank and taking a look, there is no sign of Big Fool anywhere.

  Hao's father was furious, his anger rising rapidly.

  I'll just translate: "And this little brat is still being defiant, watch me kill him today."

  Hao's dad thought so and walked towards home.

  。。。。。。

  "I say, stop hitting him, you'll kill the child if you continue," a woman said.

  "No way, today I won't spare this little brat's life. He doesn't study well and just knows how to bully that big fool with no parents along with those two dog kids from Dongsheng family in the east of the village." A foolish-looking man said.

  "You've gone too far this time, look at the child's buttocks all swollen. What was it about today? You're so angry!" The woman asked.

  "Go ask your precious son yourself, humph!"

  "Hao'er, what have you done to anger your father? Tell mom about it. Look at how angry your father is! You know your father has a bad heart, hurry up and apologize to him!"

  At this time, a child's voice was heard saying: "What did I do to make Dad angry? It was just playing a joke on Big Fool."

  "You call that a joke? You threw that poor kid into the manure pit and you call it a joke? You're still trying to talk your way out of this, I'll beat you to death today!"

  "Ah, what? Haoye, you really threw that big fool of a child into the manure pit?" The woman asked. "Yes, isn't he just an idiot? Look how tense you all are. Besides, he's got no father and no mother, what's there to fear from his family coming after us?"

  "See, I told you so. It's all because you're spoiled every day. If I don't discipline you properly today, what will happen in the future?" After saying that, this burly man swung his bamboo stick again and hit the child on the buttocks.

  The woman wiped away tears, saying, "You think I'm spoiling Hao'er? Isn't he the only son in this family? Three daughters were born, and you're still complaining about me. Your old face is as long as a donkey's, who am I supposed to spoil if not him? You and your mother-in-law are always finding fault with me, luckily I have Hao'er, or my life would be even more miserable."

  "This foolish man listened and then sighed, saying 'A doting mother spoils the child, don't you understand this principle? That big fool of a kid didn't have a father or mother to begin with, he was hungry one day and full the next, his physique was originally not good. Now you've thrown him into the dung pit, do you know that it's just the beginning of spring? If something happens and he gets sick, how can I face the villagers, and what about that poor child?"

  The woman was startled and turned pale, hastily saying: "Oh, yes, don't look at that big fool, he's quite tall and sturdy, but actually, it's all empty, his nutrition can't keep up. That child's father, hurry up, let's go take a look, the kid is really pitiful, with nowhere to live, just living in that broken temple behind the village. Let's go take a look." After finishing speaking, the woman quickly took some sweet potatoes and boiled eggs from home, and also scooped out a large bowl of rice porridge from the pot, put them all in a basket, and came over to pull Yuan Hua, but this child pushed away the woman's hand, muttering: "If you want to go, go by yourselves, I haven't eaten yet, I'm hungry, first leave the eggs for me, those are mine."

  All of a sudden, the burly man let out a loud curse: "You little scoundrel, you good-for-nothing, you still have the nerve to talk back? Watch me kill you today!" With that, he swung his arm and slapped Yuanhao with a loud smack. The slap was no light one, and instantly Yuanhao's face showed the imprint of five fingers. This eight-year-old child couldn't withstand the force of an adult's slap, and was knocked to the ground.

  But Yuan Huan didn't cry, he just stared at the man with a foolish expression and said, "Dad, you hit me for a child without parents, you've been hitting me since I was aware of things, but you've never slapped me before, why now?"

  "Why? Let me tell you, when I was very young, I didn't have a father or mother. Do you know how miserable it is for children without parents? First, let's go see that poor child, and when we get back, I'll deal with you."

  After finishing, this thick and honest man didn't care whether Yuan Huan was willing or not, and without saying a word, he pulled the child over, took out a flashlight, and conveniently picked up a black umbrella from beside the door. The whole family set off towards the broken temple behind the village.

  The words split into two, that big fool, originally today was happy and excited, saw Yuan Hua and Da Gou Er Gou, and followed them to play with a smile. However, in the afternoon, Yuan Hua asked him to go to the back mountain to catch a rabbit for him, saying he was craving it and wanted to eat rabbit meat. But Big Fool wouldn't do this, didn't say he couldn't, and didn't go to the back mountain, just smiled foolishly at Yuan Hua.

  This made Yuan Hua so angry, and together with Da Gou and Er Gou, they beat him up badly. But even after beating him up, they still didn't feel relieved. So Yuan Hua asked Da Gou how to relieve their anger. Da Gou, who had always been clever since he was a kid, suggested that they take Big Fool to the most disgusting toilet and throw him in, telling him it's fun. That's how the previous scene happened, where Yuan Hua's dad beat him up.

  But that's not the worst of it, first of all, the outhouse is quite dirty, secondly, who can bear this early spring weather? This foolish guy was so scared, and with the stimulation of the feces water, he really got sick. He crawled out of the toilet pit covered in filth, stumbled towards his broken temple home, alone, without eating or drinking, lying in a pile of broken grass, running a high fever.

  By the time Yuan Hua and his family arrived, it had already been two or three hours.