Xia Huan’s Circle

[Period setting, rural romance, family squabbles, school life, building a better life]

Xia Huan has an unusual family.

Her older sister, Xia Tian, gets dimples when she smiles and buck teeth when she cries. At five, she was sent to live with their aunt. Grandma says that's where her fortune lies.

Her mother, Hao Lanying, has two tightly locked dowry chests and acts like she's hiding some great secret. She can smoke and drink, but also curse, grind her teeth, and snore. Grandma even says she can see ghosts at night.

Her father, Xia Tianming, is scared of his own shadow. He's afraid of the dark, graves, and thunder. The first time he learned to drive a tractor, he rammed it into a tree, but somehow picked up the game of Pai Gow.

Her aunt, Xia Fenfang, is beautiful, kindhearted, and long-legged. Her husband treats her like a treasure. Then one day, she recognizes the man who harassed her at a guesthouse years ago...

Xia Huan lives in a little hut converted from a sheep pen, working hard from dawn to dusk.

She's busy feeding pigs and tending sheep, squeezing in her homework whenever she can.

Busy being a little crazy, busy growing up, and whenever she has a spare moment, busy dreaming of getting rich...