Tian Niu's home was located deep in the mountains, within an ancient forest, in a village aptly called Tian Family Village.
Because most of the villagers shared the Tian surname.
The village was considerably underdeveloped; by the mid-to-late eighties, many places already had electric lights.
Yet, Tian Family Village still relied on kerosene lamps.
The people here always adhered to the routine of working from sunrise to sunset.
The villagers cultivated a few meager acres of thin soil, subsisting on the scant harvests.
Some of the young and strong adults had left to find jobs elsewhere, while women and children stayed to gather nuts in the mountains during winter, carrying baskets on their backs.
Visitors were a rarity in the village, year in, year out.
Because the place was too poor and remote, girls from outside were unwilling to marry in.
Therefore, the young men usually married girls from within the village.
Over time, the surnames in the village all became the same.