Summary
My father was the biggest bandit on Cangwu Mountain. Far from being ashamed of it, I was proud. After all, in these chaotic times, the only man who could feast on meat, drink wine by the bowl, and still not get wiped out by the authorities was my father, Yan Tieshan. On my seventh birthday, my father got roaring drunk. He stuffed a roast chicken leg, still dripping with oil, into my mouth and asked me, “Xiaoman, what do you want this year? Gold ingots from Li the Rich’s house, or the jade Guanyin from Zhao the Squire’s? Your old man will go steal it for you tonight!” I gnawed on the chicken leg, grease smeared all over my mouth, and blinked up at him. “Father, I want a mother.”