Little Wang Cheng was born to a destitute family, yet he still managed to grow until the age of ten when his family sent him to be an apprentice at the blacksmith shop in town.
Three years later, when war broke out at the border and men were being conscripted, all the men within the household were within the drafting age. So, they falsely reported Wang Cheng's age as two years older and paid the conscription fee. After that, there was no word from Wang Cheng. When the war ended, only a handful of the villagers returned, saying that Li Gousheng was assigned to another camp and they had no contact. The family and villagers assumed he was dead.
Upon hearing the news, everyone in the family wailed inconsolably. Mrs. Wang was especially devastated, claiming that she had failed her deceased mother by not protecting her brother. Chen Ming tearfully comforted her.
