Lao

Called Meimei by her siblings, and Hsiao Wutse, she is the fifth child born to her family though two of them died before Lao is born. Lao is a strong-willed woman though she is greatly bound by custom, tradition and expectations. Lao seems to realize, at least to some degree, these limitations. She says that her mother always remained at home, waiting for the men in her life to return with food and other provisions. Lao says that she herself knows to do nothing except to wait for her own husband to provide but when she is facing starvation and watching her children suffer, she comes to understand that she is stronger than the role models in her life and she learns to beg so that she can feed her family. She later works for other families in domestic situations and becomes a peddler for a period of...