In the Water Margin
Bai Sheng is the one hundred and sixth hero of Liangshan, born under the star Dihao (地耗星). He is an idler and gambler from Anle Village in Yuncheng county, the kind of man who is always about and never at work, and he is known as the Daylight Rat (白日鼠). He is not much of a fighter. His place in the 108 comes from a single afternoon: he is the eighth man in the band of seven who rob the birthday gifts.
Wu Yong's plan to take the treasure Liang Zhongshu is sending to Cai Jing needs someone the escort will not suspect, and a spot close to Yellow Mud Ridge to wait. Bai Sheng lives near the ridge, so he joins Chao Gai, Wu Yong, Gongsun Sheng, Liu Tang and the three Ruan brothers. His role is to play a wine seller. The robbery works perfectly; the getaway does not. Bai Sheng is the first of the robbers to be traced, and under torture he names Chao Gai, which sets off the whole flight to Liangshan. Wu Yong later has him bribed out of the Jizhou jail and brought to the mountain. He dies of illness at Hangzhou during the campaign against Fang La.
Key episodes
The wine seller's song. On a scorching day Bai Sheng climbs the ridge with two buckets of wine on a pole, singing that the sun burns like fire and the farmers' hearts boil while the rich fan themselves in the shade, a song made for the thirsty soldiers.
The second bucket. The date sellers resting in the pines buy one bucket and drink it safely. Then Wu Yong scoops a ladle from the second, and the drug goes in with it. Bai Sheng sells that bucket to Yang Zhi's men, and soon all of them, Yang Zhi too, are lying in the dust.
Dug out of the floor. Constables trace the robbery to Anle Village, find Bai Sheng in bed and dig his share of the gold out from under the floor. His confession sends them after Chao Gai, and only Song Jiang's warning gets the robbers away.
