My name is Liu Guangtian.

I live in a courtyard house in Nanluoguxiang.

There is an older brother, a father, a mother, and a younger brother.

Logically speaking, our family should be quite happy. After all, what family doesn't stand tall and speak with confidence when they have three big, healthy boys? Take the old man in my courtyard, for example. He doesn't even have a child. If he weren't an eighth-grade fitter, he probably wouldn't even be able to speak properly.

But for some reason, my father doesn't like me.

To be precise, my father hated me.

No, Liu Guangfu, oh, that is, my younger brother, told me that our father probably hates us a lot.

I asked him why, and he said, "Why would someone beat you so badly if you weren't an enemy?"

Yes, I reckon my father must hate me a lot.

From childhood to adulthood, we have never received a smile from our father.

His smiles were all for his eldest brother. It wasn't a big deal; we didn't ask for much, just enough to eat. But we were never truly full at home. Every meal had to start with our eldest brother finishing first, only then could we eat. In those days, our eldest brother ate a lot, leaving us with hardly any food. If we complained of being hungry, we'd get a beating.

The older brother just watched without saying a word.

To be honest, we also hate it, hate that we don't have the ability to survive.

I know people are starving to death outside, and I'm afraid to leave. If I do, I'm afraid I'll die. I don't want to die; I want to see this world.

With this thought in mind, I lived like this, either I was the one getting beaten up or Liu Guangfu was getting beaten up. I just endured the days like this.

Finally, my older brother got married.

My father took out most of his life savings to buy my eldest brother a set of three watches and one radio. The food that night was really delicious, and it was the most satisfying meal I've ever had in my life.

The next day, the older brother ran away with his wife.

It is said that he signed up to go to the Great Northwest for reconstruction.

I don't know why my older brother, who grew up in such a privileged environment, would run away. But I'm happy. I think that since my brother is gone, our father probably won't beat us as much as before.

Who knows if I'll ever be able to come back from that place in the Northwest? I secretly vowed to myself that as long as my father treated me like he treated my older brother—no, not necessarily—as long as he stopped beating me, I would take care of him in his old age. But I was wrong. Perhaps Liu Guangfu was right. My father truly hated us. After my older brother left, he beat me even more severely.

After learning that his elder brother had left, he grabbed one of us and beat Liu Guangfu so badly that he ended up in the hospital.

I was terrified. He didn't dare stop him. His arm was thicker than my head. I was really afraid he would beat me to death.

Later, he said that it was because he didn't hit Liu Guangqi that Liu Guangqi ran away. He would have to hit the remaining two hard so they wouldn't run away.

At that time, I was really desperate. My grades were bad, and after graduation, I couldn't find a suitable job. I could only do odd jobs outside. But my health wasn't good. He had been beating me like that for years, and I didn't have a stable place to live. Every time I went to the neighborhood office to look for work, Director Wang would tell me to wait.

Wait a little longer, wait a little longer, I don't know how long I'll have to wait.

Finally, at the end of 1965, I couldn't take it anymore; I had to find a way.

He thought of Wang Shouren, who was also in the courtyard.

He was incredibly shrewd. After his father died, he first used Sha Zhu to establish his authority, making everyone in the compound afraid to mess with him. Then, he sold his job and went straight to take the entrance exam for a vocational school, which he passed. Countless people were waiting to see him fail, but he slapped them all away. Finally, he returned to the steel rolling mill, where he reportedly became a technician, earning a little over forty yuan a month.

I admire such a capable person. I wonder if they can help me.

I don't know, I just wanted to try it out, I really didn't want to die.

I knelt down in front of him with my younger brother and begged him. It was truly the first time in my life I had ever begged someone.

He looked at me, remained silent for a moment, and then sighed.

I thought I had no hope, but then he gave me an idea.

He told me that things need to be resolved step by step.

First, let's be clear about one thing: I have to leave.

I have to leave this home.

What I need to leave this home is a stable job.

I know, but I don't have the ability. He said he could help me. Hearing this, I even wondered if he was a chivalrous hero from a folk tale, a hero born to save all living beings.

His request was simple: he just wanted two hundred yuan from me.

Good heavens, a regular job outside would cost at least 400 yuan, and a regular worker in a steel rolling mill would earn 800 yuan without haggling, but he only asked for 200. At that moment, I thought, maybe, I, Liu Guangtian, can really survive.

Then he told me that to solve this problem, it wasn't enough to just go out and be alone; I also needed to completely cut ties with my bangs.

Disconnect! It absolutely has to be disconnected!

Otherwise, I definitely wouldn't survive.

He gave me a suggestion, and you know how clever scholars are! I followed his advice, and I escaped that nightmarish home! I succeeded! That night, my brother and I didn't sleep, chattering away for most of the night, until our voices were hoarse. I secretly vowed that in the future, if Brother Shouren ever needed my help...

I will definitely go all out to help him.

Since leaving that nightmarish home, my life has become increasingly smooth. I have a mentor at the factory.

My mentor was a very kind person and taught me his skills very diligently. He even offered to lend me a room. I don't know how to describe that feeling; I guess that's how Liu Haizhong felt about Liu Guangtian. This was the first time I'd ever felt the care and concern of family.

I'm not stupid; I know what he means, and I'm willing to accept it.

That kneeling that night, I felt I had lost my dignity, but Brother Shouren made me buy it back with two hundred yuan. At the same time, he also showed me that there are good people in this world. I am willing to believe in my master, and I am willing to follow him.

As it turns out, my idea was correct.

My mentor was a veteran who had retired from the battlefield. He was a very kind person, though strict with me, but he taught me many things gradually. He showed me how a man should live in this world.

Not long after I left, Liu Haizhong became a member of that Revolutionary Committee, swaggering around and even coming to take care of my master. I was furious and wanted to argue with him, but my master stopped me. He told me it was alright, these people would eventually pay the price.

Sure enough, a few days later, Liu Haizhong got into trouble. It was said that he had embezzled money during the raid on his home and was eventually criticized and denounced.