He is a soldier serving in the Chinese army and the husband of the protagonist Lin Yue. Known affectionately as Little Gray among the villagers, he is the eldest son of Sun Hongmei. Shortly after his marriage to Lin Yue, he returned to his military duties and could only come home infrequently due to the strict discipline of army life. His mother Sun Hongmei disliked him yet still extracted a significant amount of money from him to expand their family house. He is the father of twin children, a boy and a girl, born to Lin Yue during the harsh winter of 1960. As a military dependent, Lin Yue's status as his wife provided some protection against village gossip when she sought help from the brigade for a lactating ewe to feed the babies.
