Inside the old, rundown rented flat with two bedrooms and one living room, an older sister and her little brother were having dinner. There were three home-cooked dishes on the table: green pepper and meat stirfry, steamed egg, and stir-fried julienned potato.0

The older sister was twenty-three years old. She wore a sweater with black and white stripes with her hair tied up and a pair of black-rimmed glasses perching on her nose. It seemed that she wasn’t one for fashion.0

The younger brother was fourteen with a delicate face and a frail body. Dressed in middle-school uniform, he ate with his head low.0

The sister picked up two pieces of meat and put them in his bowl. Then she gave him a spoonful of steamed egg. “Have more sides and less rice,...0