In the 1950s, Chen Weidong, the only soldier in the compound, carried a gun across the Yalu River and fought two tough battles to rise to the battalion level. My parents fell next to the machine one after another, leaving only death notices urging me to retire. I held my discharge card and pushed open the courtyard door - Qin Huairu was squatting at the door of my house washing vegetables, water drops splashing on the threshold.
