The Steel King of the Northeast and His Southern Wife in the 1980s

Zheng Jingren, nicknamed Steel Cannon, was the little tyrant among all the rowdy kids on Rice Bowl Street in Old Sow Ridge, Bald Mountain.

He chased rabbits and shot birds in the hills, caught fish and shrimp in the river, and got so dark from the sun that he was a bona fide little monkey.

The Zheng family had only him, their one precious son, and both his grandpa and grandma doted on him like crazy.

That was until he was ten, when his dad brought home a little boy so pale he seemed to glow. His name was Jiang Wanyu.

Steel Cannon's carefree days as an only child were over.

The other boy got to eat the good stuff first and play with new toys first. Even an eraser had to be cut in half, with one half given to him.

Steel Cannon couldn't stand him. All he wanted was to kick him out of the house.

When they were kids

At first: "You little sissy, you stuttering stink. You can barely climb into bed. Get out of my house, now!"

Later: "Who picked on you? Ergou? Dezhu? Or both of them?"

"All right, I got it, big bro's on it. Just wait. I'll knock both their front teeth out and give them matching double-door smiles." (He says this, grabs a broom, and charges out.)

When they're grown: He pins the other boy to the seat of a big truck with its upholstery ripped open and has his way with him again and again, threatening him in a gruff voice: "If I catch you laughing and chatting with female classmates again, I'll beat that pretty white ass of yours."

Theme: Love life. Tomorrow will be better