"What a scene it was!" "Once this boat is full, you can set off." "Do a head check." "Make sure none of them has slipped away." "Miss Qiuyi, a roasted sweet potato for you?" "Of course." "And why not?" "They're very tasty today." "Here, have one." "I'm too upset to eat." "Qiuyi, we'd better hurry." "Don't be silly, even a condemned man gets a last meal." "Thank you!" "Give me a hand, will you?" "Qiuyi, I haven't packed my clothes." "Do a headcount and take them out back for physicals." "Line up." "Put a move on." "We're taking your details." "Take these girls out back." "What's the hurry?" "We're not queuing for specials at the butcher's." "Will the sisters of Peach Blossom Garden come in, please?" "Have them assemble here." "Do a headcount." "Now, the sisters of Red Happiness Lnn." "Line up, don't push." "Hu, Feng, ju, come with me." "Lu Ruifeng. --That's me." "Wang Xiao'e." "Go on, it's your turn." "Qiuyi. I'm scared." "Come with me!" "You'll be fine. lt's just a checkup." "You only have to take off your clothes." "Wang Xiao'e." "Silly girl." "All right, I'll go with you." "Are you Wang Xiao'e?" "Come in." "What's your name?" "Zhou Qiuyi." "Come with me." "Back in a tick, sweetie." "Take off your clothes and lie down." "Come on, get on with it." "I'm not sick." "I don't want to do this." "Everyone has to do it." "I've got my period, it's so inconvenient." "Good grief, but you're a pain." "Take off your clothes!" "You, you, and you." "Time for a hair cut.The rest, come with me ." "Don't crowded." "Line up, one by one." "Are there silk stockings?" "...Toothbrushes?" "Any scented soap?" "There's no escape." "They'll catch us." "Come on, Xiao'e!" "We'll never make it." "Shush, don't shout!" "Qiuyi, don't!" "Be careful!" "Hurry, follow me down." "I can't do it." "Someone's on the roof!" "Check it out!" "What's that noise!" "It's a trumpet." "What's it for?" "Who turned off the lights?" "Quiet everyone!" "It's bedtime." "No talking." "Everyone, go to sleep." "Why are you crying?" "I don't know where Qiuyi's gone." "I've never been apart from her before." "I don't know what to do without her." "Don't cry over her. I'm here." "Goodness, you're cold." "Give my your hands." "Let me hold them." "Don't cry." "Will you two knock it off?" "How are we supposed to sleep?" "What are you doing up there?" "Have to pee." "There's chamber pot in the room." "But they make such a racket!" "Wonder what they mean by "rehabilitation"?" "Don't ask me." "It means no more prostition, no more men." "How are we supposed to survive?" "Don't you listen?" "They say we'll support ourselves through labour." "Young master, a young woman is waiting for you upstairs." "What are you doing here?" "Let's go into my room." "They've shut down Red happiness Inn." "I heard. lt was in the papers." "No big deal. I've wanted to get out of the game anyway." "If they arrested us all, the world would be a better place." "But I find it hard to believe that men won't still want women like us." "Why don't you stay here for awhile?" "Madam, the young master has returned." "What'll I say to your mother?" "Just call her Madame Pu." "I don't know how to talk to women." "Does she know who I am?" "If she were one of ours, lt'd be, easier." "Watch your tongue." "My mother is a well-bred woman." "Just be careful." "Oh dear, you know how hard it is for me to put on an act." "Will you still want me when I'm old and my hair's falling out?" "How should I know?" "It's early days yet." "And so qiuyi settled into Lao Pu's home." "She had nothing to do, and didn't dare venture out." "So she napped by day, and slept with Lao Pu at night" "As the days passed, she felt increasingly bored." "Hey, out of bed, it's dinnertime, come on!" "Lao Pu, could you take this to Xiao'e for me?" "Xiao'e?" "Was she that skinny little thing?" "Just listen to you, so you like voluptuousness." "Others like them thin." "Don't be so mean, Xiao'e has only ever said good things about you." "Hang in there." "Once callouses replace the blisters. lt won't be so painful." "I just can't do it, not even one more tray!" "Just give it a try." "Take one of mine." "Wu has done six trays, Zhang five, Zhao seven..." "The skies of the liberated areas are clear and blue, the people are happy too" "The democratic government showers the people with love." "About the communist's goodness you can't say enough..." "What are you doing?" "Don't move!" "What's that noise?" "What's happening?" "Xiao'e, hat's wrong?" "Has someone hurt you?" "Are you all right?" "How can you, a liberation army soldier shoot at one of us?" "Sisters, sisters!" "Please calm down!" "The liberation army wouldn't harm you." "The Japanese army and the nationalists abused you." "The people's liberation army are here to protect you!" "We, women of the new society,must learn self-respect and independence." "The old society treated women as chattel,we're our own masters now." "Wang Xiao'e Would you tell frankly why you attempted suicide?" "My hands're bleeding, there's no end to the work,I couldn't take it." "This is not the real reason, you were oppressed and exploited." "You're afraid you'll end up in such a position again, isn't that it?" "I don't Know, I am so scared." "Don't be afraid." "We've abolished prostitution; no one will harm you again." "The brothel-keepers are the criminals, Denounce them in public." "I'd be too ashamed to talk about it." "We're not asking for details." "Do you know what it means to denounce?" "Tell us how you were tricked into the brothel,how they abused you..." "The point is to call in the blood debt with your enemy." "You know, they made us take a dozen johns a day!" "Xiao'e, you could tell about how the madam swore at you." "She forced us to swallow tabpoles so we'd miscarry." "And we never had enough to, eat." "Maybe you don't know this, but I was born at red happiness Inn." "No one's ever taken care of me, I've always had to look after myself." "You come from normal fanilies, but I was born to be a whore" "Sit down, Xiao'e." "Let me tell you a true story." "There was a girl whose father died when she was two." "Her mother struggled to send her through university." "One day, someone told her that her mother was a prostitute" "She'd never imagined such a thing." "Many years passed before she appreciated her mother's suffering" "Will you stop touching me?" "You're driving me crazy." "Oh dear, just listen to you." "It's called a reform centre or something." "Imagine, more than a hundred girls from red happiness inn." "Sleeping on one long bed." "In the morning, a cadre blows a whistle" "And they've to line up and sing." "Her fair is short now." "They all wear the same clothes." "I hardly recognised her." "It's quite something." "So you think I'd be better off there too?" "No, I didn't say that." "So what are you trying to say?" "Nothing, I'm not trying to say anything." "Where's mother?" "Madam is having her dinner upstairs." "Miss qiu, madam would like a word with you." "I wore these years ago." "Do you like them?" "If you do, please take them, I can't fit into them anymore." "They're really beautiful." "I was more slender than you then." "Was there something else you wanted to talk about?" "When are you leaving?" "Are you asking me to leave?" "I never asked you to stay." "You're not a guest as such." "I'm your son's guest." "He invited me." "Whether I stay or go is up to him." "Qiuyi, what can I do?" "I'm helpless before you." "You possess my very soul." "I'd so like to carve open the chest of a man and examine his heart." "I do fear it would prove to be just  a lump of mud." "Young master, madam wishes you to join her for supper." "Madam, eldest daughter has arrived." "What Jiaying's here?" "Jiaying!" "Ma." "Madam." "What's going on?" "The liberation army has come.The work teams are carrying out land reform." "They're dividing the fields and all our property." "But the deeds..." "have you shown then the deeds?" "It's no use." "They've burnt them." "We're waiting to be told our class status." "What do you mean?" "If you're a "tyrannous landlord" there's blood debt and you lose your life as well!" "Of course, we're not that." "But we had no choice But come here." "That's all right, come in." "Let's talk inside." "Come, come." "Come in" "What's your name?" "Are you my uncle's wife?" "You're very pretty, auntie, would paint my face too?" "Of course." "Auntie, am I pretty like this?" "you're a little beauty." "They didn't even leave you a room?" "Not one room." "Have you collected any of the grain from the tenants?" "No, it's not due yet." "What did you manage to take away?" "Just got our bedding." "So, this is what the Pu family has come to." "Boys putting on make up!" "Disgraceful,you look like a girl!" "Wu Ma, wash his face!" "You're my son." "Our family relies on you." "But you bring such a woman as that into our home." "The people's Government have taken our land." "We've no money." "How can I live like this?" "Qiuyi thought the old lady was quite ridiculous." "She hadn't planned living off Lao Pu forever." "Of course, she didn't like being kicked out either." "It's such a loss of face." "Let me scrub your back." "I can do it myself." "Qiuyi, why don't I find you a place to live?" "So, at last, you reveal your true oculars." "How blind I was!" "It would be like a love nest." "More convenient than here." "You're leaving?" "here are you going?" "None of your business." "Just pay up." "Pay up?" "I've slept with you every night." "You didn't think it was free, did you?" "What's the fuss?" "I only suggested we get another place." "Why so angry?" "Fine!" "Just consider this my last job, a job with a cur!" "Now, give me my money!" "How much?" "Name your price." "you...you really think I want your money?" "Lao Pu." "Have I ever asked you for money?" "What are you doing?" "In a fit of pique, Qiuyi fled the Pu household." "But where would she go?" "She considered going home, but reflecting on how tiny and cramped it was with her blind father, auntie and cousin living there too she couldn't face it." "What would she do there anyway?" "She'd follow her fate." "Please let me stay." "I've nowhere else to go." "I have money. I can support you." "Please let me stay." "Amitabha..." "Willingly, I relinquish the world of suffering and desire." "No, no, don't cut my hair!" "If you can't leave behind worldly desire, you don't be long here." "Get out." "No!" "I don't want to shave my head, but I want to stay." "Amitabha..." "With hair on your head, there is no Buddha in your heart." "Don't leave." "Sister!" "I'll do it...myself... I'll do it." "You must have treated her badly." "She'd never have done this." "I tried to talk to her but she refused." "Qiuyi was so good to you." "Not many girls from Red Happiness Inn would have been like that." "I know." "But what can I do?" "Will you have a word with her?" "You've always been so close." "Lao Pu, are you forgetting?" "We can't leave this place." "Time's running out." "Can't we talk about something else?" "Like what?" "Whatever." "Your hair looks good short." "Are you pregnant?" "No, that's impossible." "It's just something late." "You can't fool us, you know." "Really, I'm not." "The convent is a place of purity and peace.You can't stay on." "Sister" "Amitabha." "Qiuyi, is that you?" "Quiyi!" "Open the door, Quiyi!" "Quiyi, why've you shaved your head?" "I've come to take you back." "What have you done to your hair?" "Go away, I don't want you to see me like this." "Why have you done that to your hair?" "Quiyi, please come back." "If you want,we'll get married." "I'll do whatever you want." "You shouldn't have shaved your head!" "Why have you come here?" "Your hair-what were you thinking of?" "It's terrible." "You shouldn't have done this." "Quiyi." "Go away." "Quiyi, please listen to me." "Why are you doing this?" "Don't touch me!" "Get out!" "Quiyi!" "I don't want to see you." "Quiyi, listen." "Quiyi, come on!" "Listen to me, Qiuyi!" "Go away. lf you won't go, I'll kill you!" "Quiyi, please listen..." "Quiyi, please!" "Quiyi, listen to me." "Madam, here are the deeds to the house." "Good." "These are the deeds." "How many people in your family?" "Just me and my son." "Sissie...er, his sister is married." "We understand you have land in the county?" "Yes." "Do you work?" "No." "What do you live on?" "The income from our properties." "Everyone must pull their own weight now." "Things've changed." "Of course." "The people's Government needs everyone's support." "The army and some government departments still don't have any offices and we need places for schools was well." "We have extra rooms." "We can help the People's Government." "Excellent." "Talk it over." "We'll handle the formalities once you've decided." "Just let us know if there's anything we can help you with." "We thank the People's Government." "Sisters, today you all graduate and Ruifeng, Guixiang, Adi..." "and Yuezhen are all getting married." "Truly a day of joy!" "I congratulate you all on your work assignments and your future as honest labourers." "And congratulate the six brides on finding revolutionary partners." "We wish them a lifetime of happiness." "And lots of children and grandchildren!" "Now-the representative of the New Life brides and grooms." "We thank the Communist Party and Chairman Mao." "Will the life couples stand and bow to Chairman Mao." "Attention." "Don't move." "Good." "Everyone-smile!" "Teacher." "Ruifeng." "I don't want to leave you." "Don't cry." "I'll think of you always." "Come and visit me, Xiao'e." "So, you're worker now, Xiao'e-that's great." "That outfit suits you, too." "So this is what your big treat is?" "I thought you liked dumplings?" "Thought all girls did!" "So what would you rather eat?" "Just tell me." "How about estern food?" "Can't get that anymore." "Those please are all closed." "Really?" "Then how about the Sichuan Lnn?" "That's changed too, it's the People's Life Restaurant now." "Lao Pu, you don't have to pretend with me." "I know they've frozen your family's assets." "They wouldn't change the Sichuan Inn." "The bank said it's just temporary." "We'll get it all back eventually." "Why aren't you eating?" "You aren't either!" "I ate at the factory. I just want some tea." "Lao Pu, take me to see Quiyi." "I really miss her." "What's the use?" "Last time, she wouldn't even invite me in out of the rain." "She gave me no face at all." "What's with that woman?" "You want to see her?" "Go by yourself." "How can I?" "I don't know the way." "I really feel sorry for Qiuyi." "Get your pay packets!" "How much this month?" "Any overtime?" "Yes for some, no for others." "Why so little?" "Can't live on this!" "What do you need, anyway?" "Maybe you used to make more, but at least this is clean money." "Money is money, there's no "clean" or "dirty" money." "Don't think just because you've been through rehab that you're reformed." "Time'll tell." "Damn scarface!" "Scarface?" "I'll have you know." "I'm a victim of the Old Society. I had smallpox and no money to cure it." "So you're pretty, but you know what you really are!" "What are you?" "What's wrong?" "Why are you crying?" "Mr.Pan." "Mr.pan, where's your red belt?" "Oh, I don't Know where it's gone?" "What's wrong?" "The factory heads are all here." "It wouldn't be good for them to see you." "That scarfaced woman in our factory hit me." "Why?" "Because I cursed her." "Why'd you do that?" "You're not in Red Happiness Inn anymore." "If you don't control your temper, it'll only get worse." "No one's ever hit me before." "Not even during rehab." "Am I supposed to take it lying down?" "What are you suggesting?" "You're my only friend." "Go beat her up." "I've never hit anyone much less a woman." "Next scene!" "I should've known you wouldn't do anything." "I'm upset, and that's all you can say." "Except for Qiuyi, I don't have any friends either." "Of course I'll do something." "Don't cry." "Accountant Pu, you're on." "I'll be right there." "Wait for me. e'll go play some records afterwards, OK?" "I am Xi'er, the girl whose life you destroyed." "Yes, I'm a living being." "From the time I fled here... I've endured the most dreadful hardships." "I daren't go out by day lest anyone see me." "At night, tigers and wolves prowl these woods." "I'm dressed in rags and grasses and eat wild fruits and the offerings from temple altars" "My... my body is always like this.." "...but I wasn't always like this." "This is all your doing, Huang Shiren!" "And you call me a ghost!" "Fine!" "I am a ghost a ghost come to seek revenge the ghost of a wronged spirit and I will show you no mercy!" "I will rip you to shreds!" "Down with the evil tyrant Huang Shiren!" "Call in his debt of blood!" "Never forget class hatred!" "Never forget the price paid in tears and blood." "Make Huang Shiren pay!" "Call in Huang Shiren's debt of blood!" "Acting's fun, don't you think?" "Who plays the White--Haired Girl?" "A nurse in the factory." "She's great." "Careful" "Good evening, Mr. Zhang ." "I was in a play tonight." "You've brought a young lady home, I see." "Yes, see you." "Who was that man?" "The landlord, Mr. Zhang, And that's his wife." "We've never seen any of his girlfriends before." "She's a pretty little thing." "What does Mr. Zhang do?" "He's a storyteller and singer." "What did I tell you?" "How was I as the bad landlord in the play?" "I was so scared. I thought they were really going to nab you!" "Silly!" "It's just a play." "If they did, who'd beat up old sacrifice for you?" "I didn't really mean that, you know." "I was wrong calling her names lt'd be no big deal if I did beat her up." "You're quite cute when you cry." "Lao Pu , where's the rest of your family?" "I've never married  and Mum's living with Sis." "So I'm alone." "Lao Pu, didn't you say something about records?" "The player's broken." "Then let's make some coffee." "There's no coffee." "So, Lao Pu, what're you going to offer me then?" "The lights went off upstairs." "Don't crap on." "Lao Pu, don't stir me up." "I couldn't. I owe Qiuyi so much." "All right, shush..." "How could I face her?" "She won't be back." "She was the one who abandoned me." "Why don't I help you two make up?" "There's so much wax!" "Does it hurt?" "No, feels good." "What was that?" "What's going on?" "Mr. Zhang, someone broke the window." "They did." "You didn't get hurt, did you?" "No, I'm fine." "Those kids are too much." "Their parents just let them run wild." "That scared me!" "I thought someone was coming to nab us." "What are you doing?" "I wash my face in that!" "You've no toilet, what do you expect me to do?" "Just rinse it out." "How am I going to wash my face tomorrow?" "Buy a new one then." "Easy for you to say." "Where am I going to get the money?" "Take it easy." "Let me help you relax." "Okay, enough... enough already." "Such a minor thing!" "Be a man about it!" "Can't win with women." "Forget it." "Let's have dinner." "I thought you had no money?" "You're going to pawn your pocket watch?" "What else can I do?" "I don't have a cent." "This is terrible." "Let's just skip dinner." "Don't worry about it." "Let's go." "I can't let you go hungry even if I've no money." "Let's go." "It's cold. I hate the cold." "What will I do on my own?" "Don't worry." "I'll keep you nice and warm." "It's the New Society." "We mustn't be seen together like this all the time." "Lao Pu, why don't we get married?" "Well, say something!" "Marriage... would be fine." "But I couldn't support you." "I didn't marry when I should have and now I can't afford it." "I've just got the shirt on my back." "You know." "Given my background." "I've got no grand expectations." "You sure?" "Besides, you've got me pregnant!" "And so the twists and turns of fate brought them together." "Poor Qiuyi." "Though-around this time, /her father died." "She hurried back home." "There, she wept until she lost her voice." "She didn't know if she was mourning her father or herself." "There, there." "You'll make yourself ill." "Here are some of your favourite pickles to take back to the convent." "I'm pregnant." "I want to have my baby here." "Oh dear, that won't do." "The neighbours would talk." "The baby is all I have left in the world." "Your cousin's getting married." "He needs the room." "What are you doing back here?" "We've resanctified the convent." "You've sullied this place enough as it is, you can't come back." "Sister, please don't do this to me!" "Please open the door!" "Sister, let me in!" "Sister, please let me in." "Sister!" "Let me have the baby." "I didn't want to return." "But I've nowhere else to go." "Just let me have the baby." "Please have mercy!" "Let me have my child!" "Please!" "All her pleading could not prise open the convent door." "Darkness fell." "She was so distressed  that she miscarried." "The blood flowed and flowed and soaked the ground." "The old nun took pity on her then, and saved her life." "But what good was that?" "She had nothing to live for." "You're not getting any money from me." "I might as well be dead!" "Mum, Xiao'e is a good girl." "We just want to settle down." "Settle down?" "ith her sort?" "As if I'd believe that!" "Mum, I beg you." "She's already...pregnant." "What?" "What have I done to deserve a wastral son like you!" "Mum, is this necessary?" "I'm not a criminal." "I just want to get married." "Director Li!" "Chief Wang, thank you." "Thank you." "Chief Zhang." "Our accountant's a lucky man." "She's a beautiful bride." "Director Wang." "How come you have so many directors?" "We have more than a dozen workshops." "Director Zhang, have a seat." "More are coming." "Mr. Wang, make yourself at home." "Chief Zhang, thank you for coming." "Congratulations!" "Help yourselves!" "What a spread!" "Come, a toast!" "One...three." "Lao Pu, how'd you manage it?" "She's a doll!" "She'll do." "We want the bride over here!" "Congratulations!" "Help yourselves." "There's plenty more.Thank you for coming." "She really is a beauty." "If you ask me, I think she's pregnant." "Couldn't be!" "Look how thick her waist is." "Can't you tell?" "I'm getting dizzy." "We know how much you can drink." "Madam, your sister asked me to give this to you." "Where is she?" "She left." "What's happening?" "Nothing, nothing." "Her sister's come, or something." "Let's eat." "Qiuyi!" "Qiuyi!" "Wait up, Qiuyi!" "Xiao'e, don't say anything." "Go back to your wedding banquet." "Qiuyi!" "I..." "I..." "Why aren't you angry?" "This should've been your wedding." "Don't cry." "Just promise to be a good wife to him." "He's been good to you." "It's not raining." "Don't know why I've got the umbrella." "Take it, and think of me." "Qiuyi, please!" "There's so much I want to say to you." "Pregnant already?" "He certainly wastes no time." "He was so persistent." "What could I do?" "Who was persistent?" "Don't take me for a fool." "I know you too well." "Originally, Qiuyi had just wanted to offer her best wishes." "Somehow, she ended up giving her an umbrella." "But the word for umbrella sounds like that for "separation" a most inauspicious present for a time of union." "And so the two women, once close as sisters, separated." "Xiao'e, can I tell you a riddle?" "Sure." "This thing is quite amazing." "What thing?" "One end is bristly, the other smooth?" "As it darts in and out of the cavity white foam tricklesout." "Guess what it is?" "Go ask your wife!" "What'd you think it was?" "It's a toothbrush!" "What were you thinking?" "You're naughty!" "I'm going to tell your wife on you!" "What's going on between you and Mr.Zhang?" "He told me a joke. lt was very funny." "Want to hear?" "No." "I've told you not to get too, you know, with him. I mean it." "What's your problem?" "You know I'm yours." "And anyhow, what could I get up to with this stomach?" "I work all day." "Most convenient for you two." "There they go again." "It's driving me crazy!" "What's wrong?" "He sings well." "Great voice." "Personally, I prefer Mrs.Zhang's." "Soft, sweet and flavour some." "If you like it so much, then listen to her and her only." "And you listen to Mr.Zhang!" "You're just spoiling for a fight." "You pick on me every day from the second we get up." "Lao Pu and Xiao'e were fine one day and quarrelling the next and so the days passed." "Everyone wondered what had happened to Qiuyi." "Someone actually spotted her in Phoenix Alley." "They said her hair had grown out." "It was quite long." "Someone else said she was living with her aunt that she was sick of the nun's life." "But what sort of life could she hope for?" "When she arrived at her aunt's home her cousin's wife threw a complete fit." "Make her leave!" "Right now!" "How?" "I didn't invite her." "She just came." "You said this was your house." "And suddenly she pops up!" "Don't be like that." "Her dad was kind to us.Can't forget that." "But I'm going to have a kid." "How'll we all fit?" "What can I do?" "He's had a hard time." "I gave him the house when he got married." "Do something, will you?" "I'm about to give birth." "We're cramped enough as it is!" "Calm down, we'll think of something." "Where are my things?" "What things?" "I've tossed them." "You haven't been home for years." "Why come back now?" "We're about to have a baby." "What do you expect me to do?" "Hmph!" "You've some nerve!" "Don't provoke me... I'm capable of anything." "Calm down, calm down." "Qiuyi, let's talk it over." "Why don't you get married?" "Old Feng, the one who runs the teahouse,is keen on you." "If you agree, I'll have a word to him." "Don't tell me how to live my life." "Eat up while it's hot!" "I knew you'd come back." "Girls like us aren't made for convent life." "Say "auntie"." "Auntie." "Go play with daddy" "Daddy." "You've all done well." "If only I'd gone with the rest of you, I wouldn't be so miserable." "A few months later, Qiuyi married Old Feng of the teahouse." "She invited no one to the wedding." "In the morning, someone spotted her emptying the chamber pot into the river." "Upstairs waited a short, old man." "They could hardly believe their eyes." "Mulling it over, they concluded she must have been thoroughly heartbroken." "She only ever loved Lao Pu, but Xiao'e took him from her." "Still, Qiuyi never let on what was in her heart." "What are you doing?" "Think before you play your hand." "Oh dear, I'm not having much luck today." "In fact, you're a clever player." "To cultivate the body first cultivate the mind." "Be sensible!" "Don't listen to idle gossip for in that the truth is hard to find." "Don't stay up all night, early to bed is to yourself more kind." "I love those songs, but I can't sing myself." "If you heard more of it, you'd pick it up." "Hang out with me for a month on the docks and learn." "In her condition?" "A month on the docks?" "So what?" "You did it at first." "Didn't have a choice." "So you smoke too?" "You do it with style." "I do it for fun." "Your turn." "Take a tile." "Ha!" "I've won!" "Look at this hand!" "Mr.Zhang, you've got all the luck." "Let me tell you, luck's more teal than the emperor." "Look at him, one win and it's gone to his head." "You've picked a winning hand several times tonight." "It's not even dawn yet." "Why come home?" "I play mahjong and you go off your head." "Okay." "Don't lose your temper." "I'll never play again." "Gotta be practical-you pay the bills." "What are you moaning about?" "You're a man. lt's your duty to support me." "In the past, I could have supported you." "I wouldn't have had to care what you thought." "What are you saying?" "You are really too much." "How so?" "What?" "So?" "What did you say?" "What did I say?" "!" "You go to work every day. I sit at home alone with nothing to do." "What's wrong with a bit of mahjong to break the monotony?" "Look at Mrs. Zhang." "Her hands are covered with rings, and she's got personal savings too." "I never asked for an allowance." "I don't even have a single ring!" "What a wretched life!" "I thought being married to you would mean living well,that you'd take good care of me." "But you've no conscience whatsoever." "You're just full of it. I must have been an idiot to marry you." "If you didn't like me, you should've said so earlier." "What can I do now?" "What are you going on about?" "You think it's fun being pregnant?" "I'm doing it for you." "You don't care." "I should've just married a beggar." "You take out your moods on me." "I can't stand these long faces you pull." "Why don't I just die!" "I'll kill myself." "Would that make you happy?" "Just wait and see." "Leave me alone." "Go away." "Don't follow me!" "Just let me die." "Calm down, don't carry on." "I just want to die!" "Oh dear, what are you doing?" "Go away!" "Give me that rope!" "Come on." "I was wrong, OK?" "All right, don't cry. I was wrong." "Don't be angry, calm down." "You'll hurt yourself." "This can't be good for the baby either." "You're all I have." "Why can't we try to get along?" "It's not like I don't want to." "No one ever cared for me." "I've always had to rely on men." "If you mistreat me, what other path do I have?" "I'll take care of you, really I will." "Lots of girls from Red Happiness Inn have had babies." "Ding and Qingqing have had boys and Wang's had twins." "Xiao'e had a boy, too." "Did they send you a red egg to celebrate?" "This tray is full." "Get me an empty one." "Lao Pu has called his son Beifu, "sad man"." "Bizarre, isn't it?" "Are they happy?" "Happy?" "They fight all day long." "You know Xiao'e." "She throws tantrums and is forever threatening to kill herself." "She's probably driving him to distraction." "And so Ruifeng told Qiuyi about Xiao'e's baby.No big deal really." "But what moved her to tell Mrs.Zhang about Qiuyi having carried Lao Pu's child?" "Mrs Zhang told Lao Pu." "He was shocked." "His old feelings for Qiuyi came back in a rush." "He felt terrible." "He wondered how he could ever make it up to her." "Zhang Ma, where's my dinner?" "I'm starving." "Zhang Ma!" "I've let her go." "Let her go?" "You didn't even ask me." "I'm still recovering from the birth." "How am I supposed to cook?" "We're living off the whiff of an oily rag as it is." "You know very well l had to borrow money to pay her." "Think of the future!" "What about the gold your mother gave us?" "I don't gamble or go whoring." "I'm not spending our money." "You insist on eating well and wearing nice things.And you blame me?" "Who else can I blame?" "Why can't you be rich?" "Do you think we're still living in the Old Society?" "Everyone's on a salary now." "Now one can get rich now." "Unless you steal or rob or cheat." "anna live like a rich lady." "Dream on!" "What can I do?" "You're driving me crazy." "Come on, eat up." "I'll wash up before going to work." "How can I eat this?" "You've put in so much sugar, it's actually bitter!" "You call this cooking?" "Brilliant. I can't eat this." "Fine." "You've gone too far!" "I've to go to work." "You'd rather I stayed home to wait on you?" "How long are you going to "recover" anyway?" "Isn't this a bit ridiculous?" "What are you trying to say?" "Cry, go ahead!" "Just listen to you!" "I go to work, I wait on you." "No way." "Come here!" "What's going on at Lao Pu's?" "Open up!" "Don't knock." "If I don't knock, he won't open the door." "All you know is cry!" "Stupid little bastard, stop crying." "Don't fight, a happy family's a happy life!" "Don't cry. lf you cry after having a baby,you'll go blind." "Fine." "Then I wouldn't have to see his angry face." "Think of the baby at least!" "Damn you, when did you become so violent!" "Just think who it was that made me like this!" "I knew you didn't love me. I know who's really in your heart!" "Think of something, fast!" "What can I do?" "You're a performer, come up with something." "So?" "Aren't you a performer too?" "Yes, so?" "You think of something." "You're better than me." "I think they'd listen to a woman." "I'd better off dead!" "Just listen to your tone of voice!" "Listen to my tone of voice?" "Look at your angry face!" "What?" "Look at yourself!" "I never know what you're thinking?" "What do you think I'm thinking?" "Damn you, you've become so horrid!" "What are you crying for now?" "What are you doing?" "He's my son!" "Let go!" "Let go!" "He's so little and you'd treat him like that!" "You're angry and you take it out on me and the kid." "Great." "Hit me." "Beat me till I'm dead!" "Just try me!" "One more word from you and I really will!" "Do it!" "Come on!" "Don't push me!" "I'm going to hit you, I really am!" "God, what's become of me?" "I'm going mad." "Lao Pu's fate was truly interwoven with these two women." "He couldn't imagine how they'd get through the days ahead." "He wanted to clear all his emotional debts." "In the end he embezzled a great sum of money from his factory and sent to Qiuyi." "The rest was enough for Xiao'e to enjoy one week of luxurious living." "Days later, the police caught him and he was sentenced to die." "The day before his execution, Quiyi appeared at the prison to see him one last time." "It's you!" "is it raining outside?" "I've heard you were married." "Your hair's grown out." "Such a lovely head of hair." "Don't go cutting it again." "Life really is funny, isn't it?" "You never know what tomorrow will bring." "Beifu is already six months old." "If he lives as long as I have, 30 years, it'll be Let's see 1962,'72,'82..." "Thirty years." "I'm sure things will be better then." "Yes." "He'll be thirty, and probably married." "I'm sure my son will be popular with the girls." "But when he falls in love, it'll be for keeps." "No, it'll be the girl that loves him to death." "He'll be pretty casual." "You're right." "And he'll go after a young friend of hers, and she'll cut her hair and he'll feel remorse, and look for her and it'll be raining heavily." "But she'll humiliate him by making him wait outside the gate." "Right?" "He seemed an honest fellow--how'd he come to this?" "I heard he was only 30." "What?" "30?" "What was his crime?" "Embezzlement. lt's a big crime." "How'd it happen?" "Here's your tea!" "Would you mind leaving me alone with my friends?" "'Course not." "He was a scary sight." "Pale as a ghost." "When they fired, his face was expressionless." "He fell to the ground like a bale of cotton." "Dead." "Just like that." "It was because of Xiao'e." "I heard they fought." "She's really something else." "Isn't it time for you to be going?" "It's pointless to talk about this." "She's crying." "Have you eaten?" "I've made some soup." "Qui... I have so many regrets." "It's all my fault." "Make up for it by taking good care of Beifu." "It's all a woman can do." "All right, don't cry." "He won't be coming back." "Let's go in." "Qiuyi, the rain doesn't look like letting up." "Won't you stay?" "I'm so frightened, and your presence comforts me." "I wasn't planning on leaving." "I've come to be with you." "Qui." "You're fortunate to have such a healthy little son." "He drives me mad ." "If you like him, have him." "Really?" "If you mean it, I'll take him." "I've dreamt of having a little boy like him." "I've been to the doctor." "He said I'll never get pregnant again." "Not having a child has its advantages--less trouble." "A fat man doesn't understand hunger." "What's a bit of trouble?" "I long for this kind of trouble." "I can smell the scent of Lao Pu's hair on this quilt." "How strange life is!" "A year later, Xiao'e went off with a northerner." "Before leaving, she gave Beifu to Qiuyi." "She changed his name to Xinhua --"New China"." "She raised him as her son, and was content."