What do we learn of the grandmother's early life?

Grandmother told the boy about a young and good-looking actor she met many years ago in China. They fell in love, but their happiness was short-lived. The actor went away and didn’t come back. She though that possibly, he was one of the numerous victims of famine. Grandmother then reveals that the actors image started coming back to her lately and saw it as a sign that she didn't have long to live.