The early autumn air in the family courtyard of the West Suburb Red Star Steel Factory was filled with the aroma of sugar-roasted chestnuts.
Six-year-old Xu Zhigang crouched on the concrete. He twirled a nub of chalk between his fingers before scrawling a string of numbers on the gray ground.
"X equals 5, Y equals negative 3!"
The little boy looked up, his eyes as dark and bright as black grapes. "Aunt Dan, I solved it!"
Ji Dan was hanging clothes to dry. As she shook out a small shirt, sunlight filtered through the fabric, casting dappled light on her face.
It bent down to check the system of equations on the ground, red lips parting slightly. "Good heavens, your dad only taught you this last month."
Aunt Zhang from next door, on her way past with a market basket, stopped in her tracks. "What's little Zhigang working on now?"
