Ninth Sister

[Period novel · A heartwarming tale of an era] + [Deep bonds between siblings + A large family + Tearjerking and moving + Nine older sisters]

Chen Shi is the only son of the Chen family in the rural east of Henan, with nine older sisters.

The eldest, Chen Shouhe, quit school at sixteen to support her younger sisters' education. The second, Chen Shoulian, was married off in an exchange marriage to a lame carpenter. The third, Chen Shouju, is fiery and fiercely protective, with a sharp tongue that can silence the whole village. The fourth, Chen Shoulan, got into teacher's college and became a teacher. The fifth, Chen Shoumei, suffered from asthma and nearly didn't live to see him marry. The sixth, Chen Shouzhu, had the sweetest smile but hid the deepest pain. The seventh, Chen Shouqin, climbed trees faster than he did and married a younger man. The eighth, Chen Shouhua, never spoke and only drew, yet captured his whole life in her pictures. The ninth, Chen Shouge, was five years older than him and his best comrade.

Nine sisters were nine towering mountains, pressing him as he grew up while also holding up his sky.

From a mischievous boy chased and beaten by his nine sisters, to a young man they all competed to dote on, and finally to the man who protected them, it took Chen Shi twenty-eight years.

On his wedding day, his nine sisters stood in a row and watched him.

He knelt and kowtowed three times, unable to say a word.

This is a story about nine women and one man. The love of nine older sisters weighs more than a mother's love.