Shen Taotao's father, an honest and simple official who worked at the Ministry of Public Works. He was framed for embezzling river course project funds, leading to his family's exile to Ningguta. He is gaunt, aged, and wrapped in tattered rags. Overcome with guilt and self-blame for implicating his family, he buries his head in his knees and suppresses sobs. He desperately tries to help his family by providing a broken piece of wood for Shen Taotao to dig with.
