Chen Yansheng's fingernails dug deep into the broken bamboo strips of the kang mat. A trace of blood seeped from beneath them, mingling with the smell of old tobacco oil. Scraps fluttered from the old newspaper pasted to the earthen wall. The People's Daily headline, "Launch a Great Agricultural Campaign and Produce More Grain," had yellowed from the kitchen smoke. The date in the lower-right corner was November 7, 1959. The original owner had probably been too weak to tear off another calendar page ever since that day.
