Siheyuan: Fleeing Famine to the Capital

In the winter of 1960, Li Meng flees famine to the capital, collapses in an alley, and nearly doesn't make it. Zhang Chunmei takes him in and offers him hot water and half a cornmeal bun. The right side of her face is covered in a red birthmark, and everyone in the courtyard laughs at her for being a fool: she can barely feed herself, yet she still cares whether a stranger lives or dies.