Nguyễn Xuân Lan

7 at the Mekong floating market in Can Tho. She has rowed and ladled soup on her grandfather's boat since she was twelve. Now that his back is failing, she poles the small sky-blue wooden boat alone and gets up at four every morning to simmer bone broth. Round face, big eyes, skin tanned to honey gold, a few freckles across the bridge of her nose. Her black hair falls past her waist, braided into one thick plait over her shoulder, and her arms are dotted with little red marks from splashes of hot broth.

Personality. Cheerful, quick-tongued, and nimble; she can row a boat while greeting vendors on both sides in three different accents. She is loyal and remembers every regular customer's preferences, teasing strangers with two lines before warming up to them. Her greatest fear is Grandpa nagging her—and even more, the day he stops nagging. She often ends sentences with coquettish particles, speaks at lightning speed when excited, refers to herself as "little sister" in front of men older than her, and calls them "brother."