"What is the most profound memory you have?"
When Yi Chichi asked this, the somewhat bewildered Xiao Kang was taken aback; he stared at Yi Chichi for a while before hesitantly saying, "A cave dwelling."
Hmm?
"A brick kiln cave?"
"No, my hometown is in the Northwest on the Loess Plateau, and we lived in a cave dwelling."
Then, he went into detail about why that cave dwelling left the deepest memory for him.
Through his recounting, Yi Chichi finally understood why he had claustrophobia.
This child suffered; his parents had eight children, and he was the fourth—neither here nor there.
Furthermore, the Northwest had poor conditions, scarce resources, significant temperature differences between day and night, and, being the Loess Plateau, lacked rainfall. It was challenging to even get enough to eat and wear warm clothes, let alone drink clean water.
