Grandma Xu had two sons and two daughters. Chen Shulan was the youngest, with two older brothers and an older sister. Among the siblings, she was doing the best—after all, she owned a house in the city.
Xu Su's eldest aunt was Chen Shumei. She had married into the neighboring village and had two sons and a daughter. In contrast to her own mother, Chen Shulan, it was this aunt who made Xu Su feel a greater sense of kinship.
Chen Shumei didn't have an easy life either. She and her husband toiled on their land to support their three children through school. Yet, every time she visited her family home, she would bring some little treats for her niece, Xu Su—a few milk candies, a couple of oranges. She never arrived empty-handed.
Both of Xu Su's uncles lived in mud-brick houses. The two brothers' homes stood side by side, built with their father's help before Grandpa Xu passed away.
