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墨書 Inktalez
He returned home when it was dark. There were two routes from the town to Wen Sheng's village. One followed the asphalt road north for about five kilometers, then turned east at a bend, leading directly to Chen Family Village. At that intersection, there were a few shops, and it was a small village where Qin's family lived. The other route had a checkpoint about a kilometer north, then turned east for less than a kilometer before heading north again for under a kilometer to reach Chen Family Village.
When he arrived at the entrance to the village, he saw two people waiting for him. The older one was a boy about one year old, standing around four feet tall with a square face and a buzz cut. He wore a blue outfit and was named Guo An. Next to him stood a girl, slightly over four feet tall and eleven years old. She had a round face with a slightly pointed chin, fair skin, long eyelashes, double eyelids, and prominent eye bags. Her hair was in braids, and she wore an earthy yellow outfit that clearly belonged to her brother before being passed down to her. Her name was Wen Xin, and she was Wen Sheng's younger sister.
Wen Sheng's home was located on the northern side of the village, with its entrance facing an east-west road. The main gate of Wen Sheng's house consisted of two concrete pillars with iron gates in between. Due to frequent fights at home, the gate had been smashed in several places, with large dents and much of the blue paint peeling off. The iron gates appeared rusty as well. Part of the courtyard wall was made of earth mounds while the section near the gate was built with red bricks, not very high—about the height of a person.
The entire courtyard ran north-south. Inside were three main rooms that had been there for many years; the walls were made of blue bricks with earthen walls inside, giving it an imposing look. After many years, the color of the walls had faded to a grayish-white. On each side were two auxiliary rooms built by Wen Sheng's father and his friends for making bricks in their own kiln. Wen Sheng's grandmother lived in the northern room on the west side, while the southern room served as the kitchen. Wen Sheng's older brother, Wen Hao, resided in the southern room on the eastern side; this room also had a brick partition in the middle. Wen Sheng and Wen Xin shared one room divided by wooden boards to give Wen Xin her own space—this was something Wen Sheng arranged for her. Their parents lived in the eastern room of the main house; the middle room served as a living room while the western room stored grains and acted as a storage area.
Wen Sheng's grandmother was over eighty years old. Her hair had turned completely white, her back was bent, and she needed a cane to walk. Her husband had passed away long ago, and she had raised his father by herself. She cared deeply for him but tended to talk excessively due to her old age.
Wen Sheng's father appeared to be in his forties, standing around five feet seven inches tall and somewhat thin. He sported a buzz cut with rosy cheeks and a bit of stubble. His physique looked quite robust despite wearing relatively inexpensive clothing. He was an ordinary farmer without any specialized skills; he had attended agricultural school for several years but never made much money from business ventures he attempted later on. Eventually, he settled into farming at home and raising pigs; life was decent enough—not too bad but not abundant either.
Wen Sheng's father enjoyed drinking and playing mahjong; he had an intense passion for it. Once when Wen Sheng fell seriously ill—his head drooping—his grandmother urged him to take Wen Sheng to see a doctor, but he insisted it was nothing serious and went off to play mahjong with friends instead. This incident often came up in conversation with his grandmother and left Wen Sheng feeling somewhat resentful toward his father.
Wen Sheng's mother was slightly shorter than his father and quite thin as well; her face was somewhat darkened from years of labor in the fields, making her appear aged beyond her years. She was an excellent person who handled most household chores herself and showed great filial piety toward Wen Sheng's grandmother by keeping her company when possible.
Wen Sheng's brother was named Wen Hao. He was dark-skinned and thin with a pointed chin and eyes that often appeared tired due to his smoking habit; even his teeth were yellowed along with his fingers. He stood at about five feet three inches tall and was two years older than Wen Sheng but lacked resilience due to being spoiled by their grandmother. He rarely managed to work away from home for more than two months before returning home unable to endure hardship.
What frustrated everyone most about him was that he often fought with their father—few people from neighboring villages dared to confront him like that—but he did so regularly. Additionally, he gambled frequently; winning money would have been fine if he didn't lose so much that there wasn't even enough left for his younger siblings' clothing.
Wen Sheng's sister, Wen Xin, had an unusual origin according to their mother; she had been adopted when their father initially did not want her because she seemed useless—a child who would grow up belonging to someone else—so she received little affection from him initially. However, their mother treated her well despite this history; she doted on her like any child while Wen Sheng also loved his sister dearly. Occasionally their mother would buy snacks for them, which Wen Sheng would share with his sister.
Wen Xin understood her situation well enough; she wore clothes previously owned by her brother without complaint or comparison with other friends because she knew she wasn't their biological child—other children sometimes teased her about being adopted.
Once while playing with friends, they teased her about being adopted which made her cry as she ran home asking her mother about it despite reassurances that she was indeed their biological child; however, from their father's gaze, she could tell something felt different—he rarely looked at her or acknowledged her like he did with her brother.
As soon as they saw Wen Sheng returning home, Wen Xin rushed up to him and threw herself into his arms crying: "Brother! You need to come home quickly! Big Brother is fighting with Dad again! I tried pulling him away but he hit me! I'm so scared! Mom is crying too! I went to call Yuan Jie's dad to help!"
Looking at the five finger marks swollen on Wen Xin's face, Wen Sheng felt a deep pain in his heart. He lifted Wen Xin onto the bicycle, allowing her to sit at the front. He gently stroked her face to comfort her. In truth, Wen Hao had been causing trouble, demanding a motorcycle from their father, and then riding it to chase after girls. With his current reputation, even if he rode a motorcycle, it would be hard for him to attract anyone.
Wen Sheng pushed the bicycle with Wen Xin on it as they made their way home, with Guo An following behind.
Guo An was the child from the house next door. He had a younger brother named Guo Hua, who was the same age as Wen Xin. There was also an older sister named Guo Lin, who was about the same age as Wen Sheng.
By the time they arrived home, it had already quieted down inside. Everyone was tired from the day's work and from scolding each other. Wen Xin's father, Xiang Shu, was about the same height as Gao Ming but not as heavy. He was thinner than Gao Ming and had a long face with thick eyebrows. His eyes were not very large, single-lidded, but his mouth was quite big, and he kept his beard neatly shaved. He wore a pair of dirty gray trousers that he had just finished working in and slippers on his feet. He was smoking while educating Wen Hao about proper behavior. Wen Sheng's grandmother was also there, continuously scolding Wen Hao.
There was another man nearby, looking around forty years old, dark-skinned and thin, not very tall. He was Gang Shu, an uncle from Wen Sheng's clan. He was also lecturing Wen Hao. He was the father of Wen Ling, who had come over to visit and check on Wen Hao's situation since Wen Ling insisted on going to school. Now in fifth grade, she would be taking entrance exams for middle school after summer vacation. Wen Ling's mother also wanted her daughter to attend school and often argued with Gang Shu about it. She had been ill for many years and their family wasn't well-off. Gang Shu had always hoped for his eldest son, Wen Cheng, to go to university; unfortunately, that boy wasn't diligent and ended up having to work at home.
Seeing that Wen Sheng and the others had returned, Gang Shu spoke somewhat angrily to Wen Ling: "You keep insisting on going to school; what good will it do you?" With a flushed face and head lowered, Wen Ling remained silent. Gang Shu continued: "Look at how Wen Xin isn't making a fuss about going to school."
Before he could finish, Wen Xin interjected: "I want to go to school too!"
Wen Ling looked at her with gratitude in her eyes as if she had found support. At this moment, Wen Sheng quietly said to Gang Shu: "If my sister wants to go, let her! She’s still young and can’t do much work yet."
Gang Shu chuckled sarcastically: "Alright then! Let her go! Wen Sheng! You take your sister home; I find this girl a bit annoying! I’ll stay here and talk with Wen Hao!"
Just as Wen Sheng and Wen Ling were about to leave, Wen Xin rushed up from behind and tugged at Wen Sheng's clothes: "Brother, can I go with you?" Seeing her eager expression, Wen Sheng didn't object and took her hand as they all stepped out of the house together.
Outside on the street stood a crowd of people discussing animatedly. In the countryside, watching a fight was far more entertaining than watching a movie!
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