Writer and poet Cao Shuying was born in Harbin in northern China, but is currently living in Hong Kong. PEN/Opp publishes one of her poems—a poem where an unruly rebellious force is ever present: “There is always a child who wants to unbutton all the buttons,” she writes. This rebelliousness coexists with the stagnation of acceptance and a lulling everyday routine that threatens to extinguish any such rebellious impulse: “Take pleasure in the little things and go make some soup.”