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"He quickly turned around and began running toward that guy. Youqing was blowing me off. As he rushed off he turned around to say, "My teacher's calling me." I knew that he was afraid..." (129).

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Fugui's emotional control is put to the test, once he goes to Youqing's school and sees the he, instead of studying, is messing about with his classmates. Fugui reacts, "I threw down my pole and rushed into the classroom and slapped Youqing in the face." The connotation on the words "rushed" and "threw down" allows the reader to identify strong emotions of anger and unthoughtful actions. Fugui's responsibility as a father is quickly lost, and instead of thinking critically about his actions, he decides to forget his pride and enforce his anger.

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Yu Hua expresses the extent to which people's limits are pushed in poverty. When rice supplies in the town were scarce, people would "scaveng[e] the fields for food" and "[resort] to digging up roots to eat" (137). [...]

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Fugui realises that "Youqing [is] slowly growing up" (127). He realises that he can't publicly hit Youqing, and needs to start treating him better. When Fugui told Youqing this "He looked away" (127). Being very embarrassed about what Fugui said. The relationship between Fugui and Youqing evolve as he starts to understand his son is growing up. Fugui develops a sense of respect towards his son, however maintains the stern characteristic he portrays as a father. Fugui saying he will "make sure it isn't in front of other people"(127) Displays that his mannerism towards Youqing has changed, as he agreed to not hit in him in public. However, Fugui has not promised Youqing that he would not hit him.

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Fugui sold Youqing's lamb for forty jin of rice because the family have no other ways to survive, without food supplies. Then he bought Youqing two pieces of candy on the way home to cheer him up. Youqing ate one and "held the candy wrapper in his hand, folding it carefully"(136). Youqing did not make a scene after his father sold his lamb, he understands that the family as a whole matters more than himself, even though he feeds the lamb and takes care of it as if it is a child. Even after Fugui bought him candies to compensate for him, he did not spoil himself and only ate one, and saving the wrapper carefully. The author characterises Youqing as a considerate and sensitive child. The word "carefully" illustrates how Youqing treasures this small treat and the fact that he is thankful to two pieces of candy further indicates

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When Fugui found out that Youqing was wasting the opportunity to get an education by causing up antics, Fugui was furious. Fugui slapped Youqing in front of the whole class, the teacher rushed over and yelled "Who the hall are you?", then she continues by yelling "This is a school, not your home in the countryside". (pg124)

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After Fugui slaps Youqing in front os class, Youqing wins the town wide athletic meet race. His coach awards him with candy. "Youqing took the candy that the fat guy had given him...First he separated his candy into three piles... I knew he was going to give one pile to Fengxia, one to Jiazhen and leave one for himself. He wasn't going to give any to me (Fugui)" (130). From this observation, it is clear that the relationship between Fugui and his son is complicated. Although Youqing respects his father, he is still fearful of Fugui's violent nature. The boy considers sharing his treats with his family however, does not include his own father. This moment allows Fugui to reflect on his previous actions and change his recklessness and aggressive approach.

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When Fugui heads to town to sell vegetables, he notices a large crowd standing beside the street. He quickly finds out that a town-wide athletic meet is ongoing. As he watches Youqing run, he overhears a man explaining how the older kids are laps ahead of the younger ones - Youqing included. Upon hearing this, Fugui thinks, "I [suspect] that Youqing [is] one of the kids he [is] talking about. The happiness I [feel] at that moment [is] indescribable." (128) The description of Fugui's emotions upon hearing his son doing well in the race characterize the father-son relationship. Although he may scold him and berate him, the reader is able to infer that Fugui is innately proud of Youqing, regardless of his actions. Fugui is likely also happy that after so many antics, Youqing is doing 'something useful'. Yu Hua essentially enables the reader to sympathize with Fugui's struggles as a father through the use of emotive language.

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After reaching a critical stage of hunger and desperation, Fengxia and Fugui would always go digging around for sweet potatoes at their village's land. They would normally turn up with "nothing but a rotten melon vine (138)," as it was implied that the land was searched a significant amount of times from the desperate and hungry villagers around. However, during one particular day, to her luck, Fengxia was able to dig up a sweet potato in the midst of all the villagers scrambling for sweet potatoes. Seeing this, a desperate Wang Si, snatched it out of her hand, using her i

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Fugui's aggressive and violent nature comes to a shock from others when he sees Youqing in school wasting his opportunity to get an education, as he rushes into the classroom to slap him in the face. Youqing's teacher, in particular, is greatly taken aback by Fugui's treatment towards his own son and asks him "what kind of father [he is]" and to "get out [as he's] more like a fascist or even the Nationalists" (124). The word 'Fascist' refers to a form of dictatorship, which essentially is an insult to Fugui, as he is being compared to an authoritative figure which is not a good thing. The choice of diction in this quote further reveals Fugui's violent nature towards Youqing, which also shows us a lot about his character and his traits as a father figure, and how it shocks people from the outside looking in, which in this case would be Youqing's teacher.