We were exiled to a remote countryside for “re-education.” As a preschooler, I did not comprehend our plight, and I dreamed of a good life ahead of me. The reality, however, became painfully clear when I started school. I was singled out as a bad child from a bad family by teachers and students. I studied hard to prove myself. I especially loved the Arts and dreamed of becoming a painter. All this did not seem to lead me anywhere. Children like me and my sisters and seemed doomed to stay in that cold remote village forever.​