Lulu and Ginger

When Li Mei came home from school, she was surprised to find Dad on the stoop, smiling. He wore thick blue gloves. “I built a chicken coop,” he said.

Li Mei squealed with excitement. She had always wanted to raise chickens. The coop in the backyard looked like a little house with a long, narrow wooden frame on the front. “That’s the chicken run,” she said. Chicken wire covered the sides and top, nailed to the wood. Inside, two chickens pecked at the ground.