1985, the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, Qingniu Village, Dongguang County.
The heavy snow had blocked the mountain pass for three days.
The whole village seemed trapped beneath an upside-down white porcelain bowl, and even the dogs' barking froze into fragments. In a low adobe house at the eastern end of the village, five-year-old Lin Chen huddled beneath a threadbare quilt. The only padded coat in the household covered him: it had been made from the dowry of his mother, Chen Guizhi.
