In the Water Margin
Ruan Xiaoqi is the youngest of the three Ruan brothers, fishermen from Shijie Village on the edge of Liangshan Marsh. The brothers are poor, restless and sick of being squeezed by officials on one side and the bandits of the marsh on the other. Xiaoqi is the boldest and bluntest of the three, a man who says what he thinks and laughs at danger, which suits a nickname like "Living King of Hell".
Wu Yong, who knows the brothers from his schoolteaching days nearby, visits Shijie Village with a proposal. Chao Gai is planning to rob a convoy of birthday gifts being sent to the Grand Tutor Cai Jing, and he needs men who know the water. The Ruans join at once. After the robbery, the band fights off the pursuing government forces in the reed marshes and takes refuge at Liangshan, where the brothers become pillars of the fleet. Ruan Xiaoqi is ranked thirty-first of the 108.
Key episodes
Seven men and a convoy. Ruan Xiaoqi is one of the seven, along with Chao Gai, Wu Yong, Gongsun Sheng, Liu Tang and his two brothers, who take the birthday gifts on Yellow Mud Ridge. Disguised as date merchants, they trick the escort commander Yang Zhi and his exhausted soldiers into drinking drugged wine.
The battle in the reeds. When troops come to Shijie Village to arrest them, the brothers draw the boats deep into the marsh, where the soldiers cannot fight. Xiaoqi sings fishermen's songs from his boat as the trap closes.
Stealing the imperial wine. When the court first offers Liangshan an amnesty, Ruan Xiaoqi is put in charge of ferrying the envoy and his gifts. He drinks the imperial wine meant for the outlaws and refills the jars with rough village liquor, and the insult helps wreck the negotiations.
Back to the fishing boat. After the Fang La campaign he tries on the defeated rebel's robes and crown for a joke, loses his post for it, and goes home happily to fish and care for his mother.
