"The great Chairman Mao taught us... to develop sports to strengthen our physique" "and the stay on our toes you safeguard our country" "Now we start the exercises" "One, two, three, four five, six, seven, eight two, two, three, four five, six, seven, eight three, two, three, four five, six, seven, eight" "four, two, three, four five, six, seven, eight" "Stretch..." "As I look back, I realize that this was the moment When Xiu and I left our childhood behind" "From that day on," "The girl whom everyone nicknamed Xiu Xiu occupied my entire being" "Once you're away, you'll be on your own I won't be able to look after you" "Dry your hands before grabbing the soap!" "it lasts longer that way" "We just a family only four members" "We only get two bars of soap each month" "The toilet paper out there is very coarse, so I exchanged sugar coupons so I exchanged sugar coupons for extra toilet paper" "Use this when your period comes, uh?" "Use that kind of paper" "Be sure that" "Be sure to dry this under the sun" "That kills the germs" "Here, let Mom help you" "This is so heavy!" "You've mixed in too much cold water!" "it shouldn't be too hot!" "Xiu Xiu!" "When Xiu!" "Just sit still!" "Tell him I'm coming!" "is he crazy about you?" "Don't say things like that!" "Close your eyes!" "Everyone is signing up, so I signed up, too it's like being in the army" "We even get military uniforms!" "I don't have much to give you" "This is for you" "What is it?" "You'll see" "Let's write, then!" "i've got to go now" "Let me help you!" "is it done, yet?" "Take a break, have some tea" "Let me see" "isn't it too small?" "Our daughter's a big girl now it's fine" "Make a few more" "Who knows when we'll see her again I know. I know" "What's happen today?" ""l know, I know!" is that all you can say today?" "Well, our baby's leaving." "I'm feeling sad" "Come on, drink it" "I'll try it on!" "Dad, you're so talented!" "Look at how smug he is!" "That night, I stood outside When Xiu's windows for a long time" "Later... I often waited there, ...just like that night, as if in a trance..." "As if in a trance..." "Beyond the land people living together" "We are going to a place we might be as a community with natives" "Like plants breeding and growing up over there" "Going to farm on boundary sides anywhere in our nation is need us" "That dress is yours" "it's so big, it's mine..." "Sister!" "Come up quickly!" "Your sisters calling you!" "Keep in queue, in queue" "When Xiu" "Follow in here to going to the truck" "Keep in queue!" "I wanted to leap on the truck and leave with her but courage failed me" "Like a small group of my friends, I managed to stay in the city through family connections I couldn't help thinking this might have been the moment... when I lost When Xiu forever..." "Goodbye I can't see her where?" "Goodbye°K" "Which one is?" "Goodbye!" "Don't cry, don't cry!" "Goodbye°K" "The movie's starting!" "We're taking a short cut!" "Anyone want to race us there?" "Xiu Xiu, I'll wait for you at Headquarters!" "Who's that man with Chen Li?" "I don't recognize him" "She knows too many people!" "Let's get going." "The movie's starting!" "We better follow her to make sure..." "Let's go, let's go!" "We'll miss the movie" "Bastard!" "Fuck your ancestors!" "Go feel up your own grandma!" "Dare to leave your claws where they were?" "I did it, so what?" "You filthy scum!" "Who wants feel you up?" "it is you" "You dirty bastard!" "Take a look at my wife's photo!" "Why would I bother with someone as ugly as you!" "Keep your hands to yourself, jerk!" "Chen Li..." "Chen Li..." "When Xiu was never wrote to me." "Chen Li was never found I endlessly worried about When Xiu," "and chased down any scrap of news I could get of her" "There were long periods without any news of her" "But I conjured up the most vivid scenes of her life on the grasslands... based on stories from those who had returned" "Come on in, comrade!" "We've read your files and all your informations" "You've been an-exemplary worker." "Very impressive!" "We're sending you to learn horse herding" "When you return, you'll organize the Educated Youth girls... to form an all girl cavalry completing with the Iron Girls Cavalry!" "Lao Jin!" "Come in for a second!" "Lao Jin is a good comrade" "Not a single bad mark in his file... in twenty years" "He's even been awarded two honors!" "Nothing to worry about!" "Loa Jin's just a little different..." "Over twenty years ago..." "Accountant Cao!" "Mind your own business" "How come everyone says..." "Lao Jin's different?" "Rumor had it that at the age of eighteen," "Lao Jin was already hailed as the best rider and rifleman across the grasslands" "During a brutal Tibetan tribal war," "Lao Jin was taken prisoner... and lost his manhood... with one slice of a sharp knife" "Can't marry or have kids, that's all" "Everyone here knows about it" "There's only one tent?" "Just one tent?" "How the hell are we supposed to live!" "What's in it?" "Try it" "What is it?" "Won't poison you" "Wild onions" "All you Chengdu girls like to wash!" "Go back!" "I don't know the way back!" "I was just fine at the factory" "What the hell... did they want me out here for?" "." "Now I'm as useful as dog shit!" "What?" "Dog shit!" "Lice!" "You know, fleas, lice?" "We don't have lice out here." "Even the horses don't have lice" "But my whole body itches" "isn't this for scratching horses?" "I bet you've never bathed in your entire life" "I don't like bathhouses" "See?" "You've never taken a bath!" "I just took one when it rained" "With the horses?" "Lao Jin" "Do you know the difference between humans and apes?" "When they scratch themselves, watch, humans scratch in this direction;" "and apes, going up in the direction of their hair!" "My dad does the best imitation!" "Why'd you stop?" "No more singing, gotta work" "But you sing so well, much better than the loudspeaker at Headquarters!" "What is it?" "A Kangba love song I mean, what are you digging?" "What does it look like?" "it's almost long enough for a coffin!" "What is it?" "You'll see" "The sun is too much!" "Lao Jin" "Come and take a look!" "I bet you've never seen anything this beautiful!" "Now you've ruined it!" "The pattern's gone!" "Serves you right!" "Wind's too strong" "Lao Jin, is that gold tooth of yours real?" "Of course" "You're bluffing me" "My mother left me here gold earrings I was afraid of losing it, so I had it made into a tooth" "Earrings?" "You'd look much better without it" "At your age and you don't have anything?" "Other herders your age all have at leave a watch or a radio" "I've got one" "Here" "You don't have anything!" "Should be warm now" "What's warm?" "Go take a look" "Lao Jin, you're so kind!" "Lao Jin." "I'm taking my clothes off now" "How can I do that with you around?" "Go tend the horses" "Those few have been bothering... my horse Da Ching I can't see you" "I'm not washing then!" "The clouds are coming this way" "Don't turn around" "Your eyes will rot if you peek!" "Lao Jin, sing me another song!" "Here come the clouds" "You're peeking!" "I didn't see a thing!" "Your eyes will rot!" "Lao Jin, we're taking these yaks to the slaughterhouse" "Don't come up here!" "Do you want ribs or legs?" "Lao Jin, why the hell were you squatting like that?" "Taking a piss?" "Lao Jin, they say you pee like a woman!" "Go away!" "Lao Jin, they're coming up from that side!" "You dare shoot at retired PLA soldiers!" "Just wait" "Just wait, you old gelding!" "Wait for what?" "For you to come bite off my balls?" "Come on then?" "Let's test your teeth!" "I left my shoes out to dry" "Now there's only one left!" "Maybe the wind blew it away" "Silly, what wind?" "Must've been stolen" "Not a single soul around." "Who could have stolen it?" "And who steals just one shoe?" "They were my favorite. I hardly wore them it must have been stolen" "Nonsense." "I've never seen a single person out here!" "You don't see him, but he sees you" "Maybe someday he'll come claim you with that shoe" "That's the custom here lf you like a particular girl, you steal one of her shoes" "Which bastard's taken a liking to me?" "Chen Li... I heard from other people that..." "...Chen Li was taken to Gansu" "She's married off and has a child already!" "She'll never be able to go back to Chengdu now lf it were me," "I'd rather die" "Spending a lifetime in a place like this!" "At this hour in Chengdu, the streets are still bustling" "All the diners are open" "Have you ever had Dongzi noodles?" "Dozens of different ingredients!" "You have to wait in line" "The line goes all the way to People's Park!" "The chrysanthemum exhibit at People's Park has hundreds of varieties!" "A Tian An Men made entirely from chrysanthemums, and even an enormous ship!" "Dad would put us up on his shoulders so we could see" "Dad is the funniest!" "Mom never once had to pay fabric in twenty years" "Dad words at a clothing factory" "He would save spare fabric from work" "At night, he would sew for us" "He could make whole outfits... from scraps!" "When Mom scolded him, he'd say:" ""Night won't turn into day if a tailor doesn't steal cloth away!"" "Xiu Xiu" "Lao Jin you think they're coming to get me today?" "They promised I could go back after six months it's been exactly 180 days I won't be able to see Da Ching have her baby..." "Can we have breakfast now?" "Still cooking" "There are still two pieces of candy left from Chengdu" "Feed them to my horse Da Ching when she has her foal" "Good-bye, Lao Jin!" "They still haven't come?" "I've been waiting for so long!" "The people at Headquarters must've all died!" "Your horse Da Ching just gave birth it's sweet little foal" "Why the hell should I care?" "it rained heavily last night it changed the course of the stream" "And the horses have eaten all the grass here" "Tomorrow, we should strike our tent and..." "Move again!" "They will never find me!" "There's no water left for the horses, nor for us" "You move" "I'm not moving!" "Will they come get me tomorrow?" "What if they don't?" "Then they'll come the day after" "Lao Jin" "Are you really going to spend your entire life raising horses?" "They raise me, too" "An entire life in a place like this?" "Every place is the same" "Lao Jin... someone's following me!" "Who?" "There's someone hiding out there" "He's got to be the one who stole my shoe!" "What shoe?" "You said if a guy likes a girl, he would steal one of her shoes..." "Did you make it up?" "Did you?" "You made it up!" "You fooled me!" "How come I've never seen you before?" "I'm learning horse herding with Lao Jin" "That Tibetan Lao Jin?" "You know him?" "Everybody knows him" "He's the one... who got it chopped off..." "Headquarters sent me here first" "Later I'll lead a team of ten female Educated Youth" "Have you heard of the While River Iron Girls Cavalry?" "The best in the province..." "What "Iron Girls"?" "They've long been disbanded" "They've been fighting to go home..." "For months now" "Headquarters is swamped with..." "Educated Youth grabbing the precious few return permits" "Look," "Those whose parents have connections or money have found their way back" "They left before anyone else" "Certainly... pretty girls like you are mostly gone, too" "You must be quite popular at Headquarters?" "I really don't know anyone" "Well, now you know me lf we had met sooner," "You'd be back in Chengdu by now with a job and everything!" "You know people at Headquarters well?" "This..." "Hell, everyone knows me!" "Even the chief's dog!" "They're always begging me for bicycle coupons laundry detergent coupons, and leather shoes from Shanghai..." "They've got the power, and I've got the goods" "Everyone's happy" "So are there really only a few permits left?" "it's real tight" "Chief Yuan's son had one" "But then all the Educated Youth were about to riot" "So he didn't dare use it" "Don't move... a tiny leaf" "in fact, you're a real honest girl" "Anyone else with your looks would have visited the ranch chiefs, the committee members, and called them "uncles"!" "I dislike girls who go through the back door" "Okay come look me up at Headquarters!" "I'll get you... what you need!" "Then I really will come look for you" "Lao Jin!" "You're quite the leisurely one!" "Roaming all the way out here" "No wonder I haven't run into you!" "Who are you?" "Don't you remember me?" "Lao Jin, aren't you going to say hello?" "A storm is coming I raced to get back here ahead of it" "Storm coming?" "Then I'd better get going..." "You promise you'll come and see me at headquarters" "Lao Jin, come along too" "I've got a case of Jianzhuang Liquor for you" "Lao Jin, he's talking to you!" "The storm is coming!" "I waited for you all night... at the Saturday movie..." "We almost move our tent today..." "No...no..." "Don't be afraid" "Haven't you been waiting for me?" "No... it's not that..." "Give it to me, we'll go back to Chengdu together..." "Let's go back to Chengdu together..." "Want to buy some honey?" "it's...it's as beautiful as People's Boulevard back home!" "Lao Jin, what day is today?" "Saturday!" "it's definitely Saturday!" "There's movie at Headquarters." "Let's go!" "it's more than thirty Li away lf we ride fast, we could be there is two hours it's been so long since I've seen a movie!" "I'll go by myself!" "." "Blackie!" "Lao Jin!" "When Xiu, are you alright?" "I stopped to pee..." "Blackies just ran off!" "." "You!" "See that?" "There's a swamp ahead!" "How did you end up here?" "You could've drowned, if it weren't for Blackie" "Come on, we're go back" "You said you'd be here last Thursday." "it's Monday already" "Look, I knitted this for you!" "That damned peddler!" "He gave me the wrong directions!" "The girl from the powdered milk factory..." "Strange, I've never seen you before" "I just sent two girls back to Chengdu" "One word from me, and they're home" "This tent is so worn out!" "Shame!" "The peddler never mentioned this to me" "I'll have a brand-new tend... delivered this afternoon" "Come on, let's have a look inside... in fact, the peddler he misses you. it's just that he's too busy" "There are things he can't do, so he asked me to help" "Don't get me wrong" "He and I are close pals..." "I'm not close to him!" "Who the hell is he?" "Tough cookie!" "There you are!" "You're as soft as dough..." "I'll pound you!" "I'll pound the hell out of you!" "Lao Jin, is that you?" "is there any water?" "." "I want water" "Water's here!" "I brought this for you to drink" "it was a ten-Li ride" "There's still some water left" "You want some?" "You drink it" "Hey, give me my belt!" "I need to get back" "Just hold up your pants!" "How would I explain it?" "Stop fooling around!" "I wouldn't be able to explain!" "Out of water again?" "The people who visit me are all very important" "How important?" "Just very important lf you want to get back to Chengdu," "You need these people on your side, stamping documents, writing permits" "I'm too late" "All the other Educated Youth girls found their way back a year ago" "They've probably been assigned... to work units" "Think about it" "What's a girl to do?" "No money, no connections, no powerful parents," "what have I got but myself?" "." "And you can't just sleep with this person and not with that person" "The ones you don't sleep with will hold you back" "A bowl of water's got to be carried evenly, right?" "If you want to go back to Chendgu, I can take you to Hong Yuan Country" "You can catch the bus from there..." "What are you talking about?" "You've been around for so many years" "Don't you know anything?" "What could I do in Chengdu?" "Without the proper documents, or permission you won't get a residence permit or a job" "Even the neighborhood committees could send me back!" "You just live with your horses" "Nothing can possible bother you" "Dammit!" "Where's my shoe?" "Where's my shoe?" "Lao Jin, have you seen a shoe?" "Whose shoe?" "None of your business!" "Have you seen it or not?" "I'm asking you!" "I'm talking to you!" "Are you an animal?" "Can't you understand human language?" "There hasn't been any water for days!" "What's taking you so long?" "You're selling yourself, you know that?" "But it won't do you any damn good!" "What did you say?" "I said...you are a whore!" "Not that you're getting any" "Lao Jin!" "I don't want to go" "Forget it." "Let's go!" "Nothing to be afraid of" "Forget it." "Let's go!" "Open the door!" "Where is everyone?" "Where is everyone?" "Who're you looking for?" "." "Who are we looking for?" "." "Doesn't matter!" "Just find them!" "They're at a meeting" "What meeting?" "The Educated Youth are rioting" "She is... I beg you, Lao Jin!" "Please, let's go..." "Open up!" "Let's go, I beg you!" "Open up!" "Who're you looking for?" "." "You've been raising hell since this morning!" "Don't you recognize her?" "." "Recognize her?" "." "You really don't recognize her?" "." "Lao Jin, what's matter..." "The hell with it!" "I'll kill all of you!" "Lao Jin..." "Take it easy now, Lao Jin!" "Lao Jin..." "Please, I beg you..." "When Xiu" "Maternity Ward" "Not a sound from her, huh?" "I'm sure... she made plenty of sounds when she was screwing around..." "How could she do that to herself?" "." "A dead pig feels no pain" "She's the fifth girl this week..." "Hey, Three Toes, don't be messing around in other people's rooms!" "Yes, yes" "Six" "Seven" "Three toes, tell the truth" "You shot yourself in the foot, didn't you?" "Let's not slander a Third-Ranking Handicapped Person" "What do you think so?" "You traded those three toes for a Chengdu residence permit l think it's still a better deal than that poor girl in the other room" "Shut up!" "He's right about that" "Let's go" "Take a look!" "See this?" "With this foot, standing in line to buy meat?" "Hell, I won't even have to stay in line to get into the bathhouse!" "Open up!" "Lao Jin!" "Open up!" "Open up, bastard!" "What's matter?" "." "Lao Jin..." "Open the door!" "You animal!" "Wouldn't matter if it were a horse" "She'd still want it" "She's bleeding to death." "How could she still want it?" "Bastard!" "Hey, what's going on?" "What's going on?" "We were having an intellectual exchange!" "Anyone else want some?" "Wait your turn!" "Look!" "Please calm down." "Lao Jin" "Lao Jin's first in line," "I'll touch for it" "Who said Lao Jin was a teapot without a spout?" "Take it easy..." "When Xiu!" "No water..." "Three Toes said it won't hurt too much lf l don't aim right, I might lose all five toes" "You'll take me straight to the hospital, right?" "Will you swear it was an accident?" "Lao Jin, I beg you!" "I can't bear to shoot at myself!" "." "Lao Jin, I'm begging you!" "If you just get one good shot off, I can go back home to Chengdu!" "None of them would help me!" "You're the only one who can help me now!" "I want to go home, Lao Jin!" "Lao Jin, I'm begging you!" "Wait!" "Her life was brief" "But in the story... I keep writing of her" "She lives on"