"Stray bullets flew through the war zone every single day back then, and Old Yáng always said we had to stay alive before we could even think about eating." She tapped her finger against the stem of a Crown-of-Thorns beside her, and the sharp thorns dropped with a crisp snap. "I'd crouch inside a moldy tent, dismantling obsolete grenades with one hand while learning Pinyin from him with the other. My left hand gripped a wrench, and my right hand held a twig to draw horizontal and vertical strokes in the muddy ground."
"At first, I didn't even have a name."
"Old Yáng let me pick one myself after I learned how to read."
Chapter 187