Because of his father, Brian Carter's mother was also sent to the countryside to work as a barefoot doctor, specifically traveling to the outskirts of Beijing to treat local farmers. At that time, transportation was underdeveloped. To get from the rural area of Miyun back to the city, she had to leave at dawn on a horse-drawn cart delivering vegetables to the city, then transfer to a long-distance bus, and then switch to a city bus before finally getting home. As a result, his mother could only come back once or twice a week, leaving no one at home to look after Brian Carter, so he could only be entrusted to his maternal grandmother. As for Brian Carter's paternal grandparents, they both died early, so Brian Carter never met them growing up.

Brian Carter's grandmother was an old lady with bound feet, completely illiterate, who couldn't even recognize a carrying pole, so she couldn't teach Brian Carter any academic knowledge. There were quite a few children in his grandmother's family—he had two aunts and two uncles, and the youngest uncle was only eight years older than him. So the old lady couldn't keep an eye on him all day, and he was basically left to his own devices. From a young age, Brian Carter played with this youngest uncle, who was no angel himself—he was notorious for being mischievous and was the ringleader among the kids of similar age in those few alleys around his grandmother's house. As a result, Brian Carter also became wild and unruly.

Brian Carter's parents saw all this and were very anxious, but there was nothing they could do. They could barely take care of themselves; they couldn't possibly carry their son on stage every day to be criticized, nor could his mother take him with her to the countryside every day.

But when Brian Carter had just turned three, his father insisted on sending him to a nursery. Over this matter, Brian Carter's father argued several times with his maternal grandparents. According to their thinking, it was safer to keep the child at home, and they were afraid Brian Carter would be bullied at the nursery. But in the end, they couldn't persuade Brian Carter's parents, and he was sent to the nursery.

However, Brian Carter made his grandparents proud—on his first day at the nursery, he absolutely refused to go, clinging to the bed leg and refusing to let go, crying so loudly that everyone in the building came out to persuade his father, thinking he was beating the child early in the morning.

That day, Brian Carter's mother wasn't home, so only his father was there. Seeing that he was about to be late for work, and thinking about the scene of sitting on stage being criticized, Brian Carter's father couldn't bother with gentle persuasion anymore. He simply tied Brian Carter up, put him on the back of his bicycle, and took him to the nursery.

The nursery teachers probably had never seen a child brought in tied up by his parent before, but they didn't say much. People back then generally knew what was going on in each other's families, since everyone lived in the same area. They brought Brian Carter into the yard, coaxing, persuading, and even scaring him, but still couldn't subdue him. When they untied the rope from Brian Carter, he immediately bolted for the gate, trying to escape.

The teachers were at their wits' end and had no choice but to catch him and lock him in the inner room of the classroom to let him reflect by himself, while they took the other children to play games in the outer room. The longer Brian Carter stayed in the inner room, the more anxious he became, and then he brought out the fearless, reckless attitude he had learned from his youngest uncle. He grabbed a small chair and smashed the door with one of its legs.

Back then, doors were made with a wooden frame, two wooden beams in the middle, and then covered with a kind of fiberboard. That fiberboard wasn't very sturdy, so with one blow from the chair leg, Brian Carter broke through it, startling the teachers outside and making many children cry. Seeing the door was broken, the teacher hurried to open it, intending to scold Brian Carter, but as soon as the door opened, a small chair flew out from inside, followed by a small figure.

The chair hit the teacher's leg squarely. Brian Carter clearly remembers that the teacher had a long braid down to her waist and was probably just in her twenties. The chair knocked her down, and at that moment, Brian Carter dashed out the door, took advantage of the empty yard, opened the gate, and ran off.

Brian Carter had no idea what chaos he left behind at the nursery. He ran all the way back to his grandmother's house, but didn't dare go inside, knowing he was in trouble for hurting the teacher. So he hid in the coal shed. Not long after, people from the nursery came looking for him, but his grandmother really didn't know where Brian Carter had gone. When she heard the nursery had lost him, she cried and demanded they compensate her for her grandson, even calling out the old neighbors in the courtyard and refusing to let the nursery staff leave.

After a long commotion, Brian Carter's father rushed back from work. Everyone was discussing going to the police to report the missing child when Brian Carter crawled out of the coal shed and turned himself in—mainly because he was afraid of the police, thanks to his youngest uncle. All the mischievous kids in their group were afraid of the police.

That day was the first time Brian Carter got a beating, and it was a pretty harsh one. Since Brian Carter's father was a teacher, he always advocated for reasoning with children and not resorting to physical punishment. Brian Carter's grandfather especially doted on children and had a strong preference for boys over girls. In his grandmother's house, any good food went to Brian Carter first, while his youngest uncle watched. Beating or scolding was absolutely forbidden—not only were family members not allowed to do it, outsiders weren't either. No matter how annoying the child was, you couldn't hit or even scare him, or else his grandfather would come to your house and fight you. Everyone in those alleys knew that Brian Carter's grandfather fiercely protected his grandchildren.

Chapter 3: The Oddball