King of Snakes

In the village of Lower Sand, there lived a boy named Sha Le’er, once known far and wide as an incorrigible rascal. Yet, who could truly blame him? When he was just eight years old, his parents divorced. His father left home, remarried a woman rumored to be somewhat pretty, and from then on, severed all ties—never returning home, never sending a single penny. It was as if Sha Le’er had never existed in his world. His mother, too, remarried, joining a poor family with her new husband, working away from home, bearing a son and a daughter, rarely returning, and when she did, never coming to see her firstborn.

Fortunately, he still had his kindly grandfather. From the age of eight, the two lived together, relying on one another. But when Sha Le’er turned fourteen, his grandfather fell ill and passed away, leaving the boy all alone in their dilapidated courtyard, left to fend for himself.

After his grandfather’s death, Sha Le’er was plunged into grief. He would often take his yellow dog to his grandfather’s grave, weeping and speaking to the one who had raised him. But youth is resilient; time soon soothed his sorrow, and he found joy again, living a life that, by his standards, was not without pleasure.

He never returned to school after his grandfather died. At fourteen, surviving in this world wasn’t so hard. His grandfather had left him ample grain, three hundred and fifty-two yuan, a pig, a cow, fifteen chickens, and twenty-three ducks. In the three and a half acres of paddy, the rice grew lushly; the five acres of dry land were divided between an orchar