The Qilin Cub Is Handed Over to the Nation: Farming in Famine to Save China

In a year of great calamity, Huai Tree Village runs out of food. Sui Sui, the little dumpling Grandma found, is called a “good-for-nothing” by her uncle and aunt, who want to trade her for grain. That night, the three-and-a-half-year-old pulls out a handful of golden rice seeds. “Sui Sui wants to see the biggest official. I have something for the country.” She hands over the seeds, and barren mountains become granaries. She gives them blueprints, and factories rise from the ground. She provides a prescription, and the epidemic retreats a thousand miles. On the day her uncle and aunt kneel and beg for forgiveness, she is holding the nation’s hand as she walks onto the awards platform. But no one knows that every time she gives something away, her little body shrinks a bit.