"Once there was a village called Goddess Temple high up in the mountains." "Once there was a fever that the world called aids." "It snuck into our village softly, everyone who got it died easily as if the leaves falling off a tree." "That's me right there." "My name was Xin and I was 1 2." "Look, there's my dad." "Who?" "Who?" "And that is my uncle." "Who did it?" "It was weird seeing myself like that," "and seeing my grandpa." "They said it was dad's fault people got sick, and my uncle had it coming." "If I'm going to tell our story, I guess it starts from here." "Start?" "Start?" "Get started?" " Awesome!" " Awesome!" "There's a new cure, we got to celebrate." "So forgive the singer if his song is poor;" "he wishes you joy, health and longevity." " Good!" " Good!" "I hitched a ride upon a cloud," "saw things no mortal sees;" "I leaped from cloud to cloud at immortal speed." "The clouds, they parted." "The world appeared before my eyes." " Splendid!" " Splendid!" "To the east, the boundless sea;" "to the south, the sacred peaks;" " to the west, the temples fair;" " There must be a new cure." " to the north, the fragrant springs." " No, there's not." "You're talking nonsense." " And the heavens above..." " You could go check it out." " Halls of LingXiao..." " Who?" "Who told you that?" " There is one." " No, there's none." " Yes, there is." " What?" " Ask someone else." " Who?" "Ask who?" " Go check with others." " There's definitely one." "What?" "Go ahead, ask Old Zhu." "There's a cure for the fever, right?" "I'm not lying!" "You told me yourself." "Sure." " There is one!" " No, there isn't!" "Qiquan told me." "He's standing right there." "Dad, why bother lying?" "They'll find out, eventually." "Kneel down and apologize." "It's the least you can do." "How do you know there's no cure?" "Down on your knees!" "Do it!" "Do it!" " Bow your head." " Grandpa." "You bastard, you blood merchant." "Got blood?" "Qiquan's your man." "Anytime, anyplace, at a price that's fair!" "Grandpa, stop it, please." "Let's go home, okay?" "Shut up!" "Just go back." "Please forgive me for having a son like that." "I raised him, but I couldn't educate him." "My younger son, Deyi, has the fever, too." "It's karma." "My grandson was only 1 2..." "Even if it was Qiquan's fault you got infected," "I beg you not to hold it against our family." "Since all the teachers ran off, and the kids went to school in town, the school is empty." "If you're afraid of infecting your families, come live in the school, I'll look after you." "And..." "I admit it, I lied about the medicine." "They say the fever's a new plague, and nothing in the world can cure it." "Another victim!" "Get away from that." "Run, run!" "And that was the last concert the old musician ever gave." "He's gone." "That's our village school where grandpa was a caretaker." "When the weather got cold, the sick villagers started moving in." "After I die, I want you to take our son and get remarried." "Leave this god-awful place." "Don't worry, I'll be fine." "Go home." "Don't forget to visit every day!" "Here in the school, all meals will be communal." "Who volunteers to cook?" "If you men are too macho for the kitchen, I'll do it." "But no disrespect." "We'd respect you more in the bedroom!" "Quiet, please." "Now, in this school, everyone gets treated with respect." " Same goes for school property," " Here you are." "desks and such." "Treat them with the same respect you'd show your own wife." "Or better, someone else's wife!" "We'll pool our food stores, and whatever government rations we get." "Ratso, you'll keep accounts." "Ol' Confucius keeps my books;" " Ol' Man Heaven looks after my fields." " I'm God's own goddamn daddy." " Don't you think I'm exceptional." " Don't you think I'm exceptional." "Stop that!" "No one's dying." "God will help us." "Old Zhu is the godfather here, so he should be our headmaster." " Headmaster." " Headmaster." "Dad?" "Can I sleep in the big room or bunk with you?" "You've had your fill." "Don't be so greedy." "Dad, can you drop in and check on Haoyan?" "She trusts you, so I thought you could talk her out of remarrying when I die." "Then I can rest in peace." "Don't think dark thoughts." "What's so funny?" "Hell." "Look at the artist!" "Is that what you call painting?" "Every day counts, if you make every day count." "It's worth remembering." "Bullshit." "Assembly!" "Assembly in the schoolyard!" "See?" "It's not here." "I loved your red silk jacket." "How'd you lose it?" "Qinqin, where did you put it?" "I hung it on my bedpost." "No," "I'm warm enough in this." "Dad?" "Dad?" "Let's search!" "Here's the thing, whoever took it, leave it in the schoolyard tonight." "No questions asked!" "Dad?" "You asleep?" "Haoyan went back to her mom's." "She hasn't visited in ages." "I've been counting the days." "What are you doing?" "I want to find out who the thief was." "Who's that?" "Qinqin!" "Why are you out here in the middle of the night?" "I wanted to see who stole my jacket." "My thoughts exactly." "You scared?" "So why did you sell your blood?" "To buy this expensive shampoo I saw on TV." "A girl from our village bought it, and her hair was smooth as silk." "I wanted to try it, too." " You?" " Everyone was selling blood." "My brother wouldn't let me, so I sold mine in another village." "I heard he was a cheat." "Took more blood than he paid for." "They stole your jacket." "Why not steal from them?" "No, all a person has is face." "To hell with face." "Did your husband give you any?" "When he heard you were sick, he beat you." "Everyone knows." "That's how little he cared, just enough to hit you." "If it were me, I'd have infected him without saying a word." "Did you infect your wife?" "Truth is, she hasn't touched me in over a year, not since I was diagnosed." "Think about it..." "I'm not even 30." "Yeah, same here." "My husband said I was too filthy to be buried next to him." "What a shit!" "If it were me," "I'd be proud to be buried by your side." "You must be cold." "Qinqin..." "I want to say something." "How about you and I being together?" "Now's not the time." "What better time is there?" "Left, right, left, right..." "Halt..." "Left face!" "Brush!" "Spit!" "I just want to catch the thief." " Right face!" " No." "Double time!" "Don't be scared." "I'll help you fix him." "Stop it!" "Stop it!" "Is there no justice in this world?" "There's no justice." "There's no justice." "No justice." "Silun, calm down and tell me what happened." "I worte down every single secret in my red notebook." "Last night," "I put it under my pillow, with some money." "This morning, they were gone." "I don't care about the money, but that notebook, that's private." "I can't lose it!" "There's private stuff in there!" " Assembly!" " Assembly!" " Assembly!" "Everybody out!" " Something's come up!" "I'll search!" "I don't care if anyone feels offended as long as we catch the thief." "I'll know who stole from my cousin's wife, too." "Start now!" "Let's go search." "Search party!" "Nobody move!" " What are you doing?" " Stop that!" " What are you looking for?" " What the hell are you looking for?" " What is this all about?" " We're searching for something." "Miss a woman's smell?" "Shut up!" "Whose bed is this?" "Confess and you'll be punished!" "Resist and we'll be merciful!" "Wait, the other way around!" "Cook, have you been stealing rice?" "No." "You searched my bed?" "How could you?" "I'm up before dawn, cooking and cleaning." "You don't find it grateful, do you?" "Well," "I'm sick, too!" "Why should I wait on you?" "If I were out working, at least I'd get paid!" "Have I ever asked for a penny?" "So I took a few grains of rice!" "How could you be so cruel?" "You're heartless!" "If your family needed rice that badly, you should have asked me." "I don't need your charity!" "Dad, look!" "Here, dad." "You took the jacket?" "What about my diary?" "Old Geda, Have you seen it?" "It has sentimental value." "It's a red notebook." "My notebook..." "Who'd steal that?" "It's not worth anything, I swear!" "Where's my notebook?" "Qinqin, you..." "I..." "I..." "Qin..." "Where can it be?" "Where can it be?" "My notebook..." "Where's my notebook?" "Where is it?" "Can't find it." "I can't find it." "Where is it?" "Where is it?" "Where is my notebook?" "The red notebook..." "Where is it?" "The notebook..." "The notebook..." "Silun, time to eat!" "Still missing your notebook?" "Silun!" "Aren't you hungry?" "Hey, you found it." "How's Silun?" "He's not feeling well." "Not hungry." "Silun was always impatient, even more so after he lost his diary." "Everyone knows we'll all die;" "it's just a matter of time." "What was his hurry?" "No one would sleep in his room again." "And the next world was even emptier than this one." "Dad!" "After New Year," "I'm taking Little Jun to visit my mom." "What's the point of having a wife if you're never even here?" "Bro." "Little Jun, see who's coming." "Come on, come on." "Step back." "Come here, Little Jun." "Step back." "Get your tofu here!" "Fresh tofu!" "Get your tofu!" "Tasty tofu." "You dropped your cigarette." "Hey, you dropped your cigarette." "You dropped your cigarette!" "We're better off in the school." "Go tell your dad." "He'll listen to you." "She's right." "Only if Qinqin goes with me." "Go ahead, Qinqin." "It's for the greater good." "We're alone." "Did you miss me?" "Didn't you miss me?" "I mostly thought about my being sick." "There's nothing to live for." "Nothing to live for?" "I'll give you something to live for!" "I won't live out the year." "If you marry me," "I'd take you." "And take you... and take you..." "Come on, Qinqin!" " Deyi." " Qinqin." "Get down!" "Qinqin!" "Deyi, stop it!" "Deyi!" "It's dangerous!" "Deyi!" "Qinqin!" "Deyi!" "Zhao Deyi!" "You stupid bastard!" "I'm god's own goddamn daddy." "Don't you think I'm exceptional." "Don't you think I'm exceptional." "Open up!" "Students reporting for class!" "When everyone moved back into the school, their food attracted the usual scavengers." "Table scraps not good enough for you?" "This is for human." "Not for you." "Scram!" "Hey, what's my dad doing here?" "This is high-quality city flour." "Consider it my gift to you." "For coffins, call 488-888." "Hey..." "When the time comes," "I'll give you a discount." "Dad, you think he bought that flour, or got it free from the government?" "I don't wanna talk about that." "Dad, I'm just going to the toilet." "Today Cook said... she thought she saw my husband." "You think he came for me?" "Sure, let him come." "Let him see you and your missing buttons." "Let him come." "Let him see you." "Open the door." "You got the key?" "Bro, the lock's brand new." "Someone planned this." "Dad?" "Dad!" "Dad!" "Open the door first!" "Open the door!" "Dad." "Who's got the key?" "Who's got the key?" "I'll kowtow right here, if you just give me the key!" "Open the door, please." "Deyi doesn't deserve this." "Dad, smash the lock!" "Come on, just smash the lock!" "Dad!" "Just smash it!" "I'll do it." "Look, isn't that Qinqin's husband?" "Xiaohai..." "Cheated on me, huh?" "What the hell are you looking at?" "Get outta here!" "Show them what a slut looks like!" "Get outta here!" "Sloppy slippers!" "Show them what a slut looks like!" "See?" "Sloppy slippers!" "Here!" "Look at the slut!" "Xiaohai, she's sick." "Let her go." "You mind your own business!" "Well, you had your fun." "You had fun, right?" "Glad I could help entertain you." "You'll come to no good end, you know that?" "I'm a dead man anyway." "Is this fair to Haoyan?" "She had a man before me." "Is that fair to me?" "Then think of your son." "Your son..." "We thought you were inside." "Come here, we need to talk." "We locked them in, and gave the key to Qinqin's husband." "He wanted to give one to Haoyan, too." "I stopped him." "It was out of respect for you, not Deyi." "We'd sure hate Haoyan to find out." "That's why we have a proposition." "Well, that's all I have to say." "This school needs some new blood;" "these two young men are comparatively healthier, so I'm putting them in charge." "Notice." "Rule One:" "If you don't contribute your fair share of food, may your whole family get the fever and die." "Two:" "All government rations of food and medicine will be shared." "Cheaters and disobedients will see all their ancestors and descendants die." "Three:" "Deyi, I hear you scored the other day." "I just take it day by day." "Three:" "Adulterers and corrupters of public morals, if get caught, will wear the sign of their shame and be paraded through the village streets." "Stop right there!" "No one takes school property!" "What happens when the kids come back?" "What then" "Uncle, we're in charge of this." "We promised to divvy things up." "Besides," "I thought we had an understanding." "Remember?" "Dad," "It's not our stuff." "Butt out!" "This is all your fault!" "Have it your way." "You'll take these things over my dead body!" "Come here!" "Zhao Lianzhu is fired!" "Starting today, you're fired from this school." "You're not fit to lead." "Qiquan milked this village dry and infected us with dirty blood;" "now he's profiting by selling coffins, making money out of dead persons." "And your younger son's no better, fooling around on his wife." "With his cousin's wife, no less!" "I'm doing you a favor letting you stay here!" "Let's go!" "Still won't budge, huh?" "Here, dad." "Go home and work things out with your wife." "My aunt had moved back to her hometown." "It was obvious to her and everyone in the village my uncle and Qinqin were in love." "Qinqin's husband finally kicked her out for good." "Everyone moved out of the school, and grandpa was alone again." "Dad, Qiquan's back." "He wants to see you." "We're moving into town soon."