"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 12." "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?" "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 12..." "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!" "Is there no justice in this world?" "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?" "My notebook..." "Where's my notebook?" "Where is it?" "Can't find it." "I can't find it." "Where is it?" "Where is my notebook?" "The red notebook..." "Where is it?" "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." "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!" "Open the door first!" "Open the door!" "Dad." "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." "Then to the city, as soon as I can afford to." "You can come with us if you want, or stay here with Deyi." "When he's gone, you can come live with us, and I'll support you in your old age." "After all, we're family." "Here!" "Look at what I drew!" "Is that..." "Shush!" "Wow, real leather!" "Can you imagine going to the afterlife in this?" "It's worth dying for!" "Give us two coffins like this, and all the trees in the village are yours!" "Old Zhu?" "Old Zhu!" "I've been thinking it over, and I wanted to return this before it's too late." "Someone else might need it." "The truth is, when my wife and I got married," "I promised her a red silk jacket." "She's waited so long, I just wanted her to have one." "I didn't mean to steal." "Grandpa made the long, long trip to borrow Qinqin's red silk jacket." "Geda saw his wife wearing it just once before he died." "Don't take anything that isn't yours." "Xiaohai has a new fiancee." "When the time comes, give him a divorce, if you're still alive." "Understand?" "What do you want?" "No one can see us." "Not that I'd care if they did." "You came back for your summer clothes?" "How are you feeling?" "Don't go." "Haoyan's divorcing me;" "Xiaohai's divorcing you." "We're free." "Now we can be together." "No matter what happens while we live, we can be buried together," "so we won't be alone." "Why are you crying?" "Let's live together." "Who cares what they say?" "Who cares what anyone says?" "Let them try to stop us." "Don't go." "Live with me." "And if my house is too full of memories," "we'll find another place." "Qinqin, come out you shameless whore!" "Shang Qinqin!" "You hear me?" "Come out here, right now!" "Get the hell outta here!" "Aunt, she's my wife now." "If there's a problem, talk to me." "Your wife?" "As long as she's married to Xiaohai, she's still my daughter-in-law!" "You've got some nerve!" "That's right." "I seduced her, and now she's shacking up with me." "So if you want to take it out on someone, take it out on me." "I don't give a damn." "You shameless..." "Said enough?" "Go ahead, hit me." "Beat me to death." "Come on, do it." "Enough." "Come back here!" "Come back, you swine!" "Come back!" "Greedy pig, come back!" "Come back here!" "Steal my rice, will you?" "Steal my rice?" "Come back..." "Think you can out run me?" "Hey, let me off." "Put me down." "Wow, go for it." "Help!" "Hey, bro." "If you need a hand, just ask!" "I'm not that worthless yet!" " Bro." " Bro." "Bro?" "Sick as you are, can you still do it with Qinqin?" "Sure, twice a night." " Bro." " Bro." "Hey, wait up..." "Wow." "Sexy." "Wish I had the fever." "Want mine?" "Qinqin," "I keep dreaming about my mom." "She says she feels cold in her sleep and asks me to warm her feet." "When did she die?" "About ten years ago." "From now on, I'll be your mom." "When you call her name, think of me." "Call me mom," "I'll love you like your mother did;" "and I'll love you any way you want." "Mom?" "I want your breast milk." "You're awful." "Next time you can be my daddy." "Here, come to daddy." "Blabber?" "Cook's gone." "After that pig ate her rice, she got really mad." "Now she's gone." "We're going to bury her with the bag of rice, so she doesn't leave empty-handed." "It's out of batteries." "Kind of like me." "No one expected Cook to die so soon." "Then Blabber died, and no one ever hear the sound of his megaphone again." "Let's get married." "We've still got time to make it official." "What do you say?" "Daddy?" "Dad." "I want to marry Qinqin." "I need your help." "You go to aunt, and talk Xiaohai into divorcing her." "No, I won't do it." "I'm ashamed of you." "My husband doesn't want me, and my family doesn't want me." "Not even my own mother." "Nobody wants me." "I know it's shameless, but I'm still here and life goes on." "I want to be Deyi's wife." "Even if it's only for 6 months, or a few weeks." "If we're married, we can be buried together," "like a family." "Why's mommy crying?" "Xiaohai's out working." "To be honest," "I've met someone." "She wants to get married this month." "But how can I do it when those two are shacking up and planning a wedding, too?" "We'll see who gives in first!" "Uncle." "Uncle, wait." "I'll divorce Qinqin on one condition." "My fiancee wants a bigger house." "Tell Deyi to leave me the house in his will." "That way, it's remains in the family." "Once I get it in writing," "I'll agree to the divorce without hesitation." "Last Will and Treatment" "Can your brother get our marriage licenses if we're not there in person?" "Of course." "No sweat." "Hey, it's almost winter." "You shouldn't wash with cold water." "Is that him?" "I bet it is." "Here, drink this." "Daddy, promise me something?" "Don't bury me in black." "Buy me a dress." "A red dress." "I've always loved red." "Come on, drink this." "And something plain, so I'll have two outfits." "All right." "And a pair of shoes, high heels." "You can walk around in heaven in your high heels, just like a city girl." "You can wear them every day." "It'll be great!" "You lie." "You want me to die first." "I didn't mean that." "Yes, you did, so you can go back to your wife." "Want to know the truth?" "I've been sick longer than you." "You want to see me die first?" "Yes." "Okay!" "How?" "I'll hang myself!" "All right." "There's a rope in the closet." "If we die together," "I'll know this wasn't all a waste." "Every day counts," "I want to live." "But if you die, who'll nurse me?" "Mommy..." "Bro." "Come on in." "You know what these cost me?" "A perfectly good coffin." "You gave up everything for that slut, even willed away the house." "You'd be better off dead." "Why are you still breathing?" "If not for dad," "I wouldn't have helped." "What are you buying?" "Qinqin." "Mom..." "I'm all better." "My fever's gone." "I bought wedding candy." "Come on." "Get up." "Deyi," "I know ours is a second marriage, but I still want everyone to know." "Get up." "Mommy!" "Deyi and I are married." "See?" "Here, have some wedding candy." "Have some candy." "It's wedding candy." "Don't be shy." "Please." "Have some candy." " Please, it's wedding candy." " Congrats." "See?" "Just like yours." "It's so red that it looks fake, doesn't it?" "Ratso?" "We're married." "And we owe it all to you for locking us in the storeroom together." "If we have a baby, we'll be more grateful." "See?" "It's official." "Ratso, come on!" "Have some candy!" "Qinqin, open your mouth." "Yummy, huh?" "Uncle and Qinqin were married, but they don't know that their happiness, it wouldn't last for long." "That day," "I too got married." "On the other side of the mountain;" "to a dead stranger, twice my age, and they moved my bones far, far away." "I've got mansions by the millions, and too many wives to count, descendants in the billions." "Fairy maids and goddesses to wait on me, serve me well and give me everything." "I'm god's own goddamn daddy." "Don't you think I'm exceptional." "Today was Xin's wedding." "I didn't tell you in case you got upset." "Here." "You'd sacrifice your son for your own ambition?" "You know, her dad's the governor." "His word is law." "They want Xin to be their son-in-law." "Now that we're family, we're going into real estate." "Look, here, right here." "We're going to turn this whole place into a high-class cemetery, a heaven on earth." "City folks will go nuts for it." "You think I care that the villagers hate me?" "You think I give a damn?" "I never set out to be evil, but I'll be damned if I'm poor." "Few are born into luxury, but I'll see..." "I'll see that everyone is buried in it!" "My God!" "The pain's killing me!" "My leg!" "It hurts!" "Oh, God." "Talk to me." "If someone has to go first, let it be me." "Your coffin isn't ready yet." "We have to wait, because you know I can't live without you." "Right?" "Can I ask you something?" "Don't get mad." "I just wanna know." "Haoyan has someone else, doesn't she?" "Tell me." "Talk to me." "Come on." "They'll never be as happy as we are." "Haven't I always loved you like a mother?" "I'm you wife, as well as your mom, right?" "When your wet your pants," "I washed them for you." "Whatever you wanted," "I gave you." "Wasn't I your mommy?" "Huh?" "Didn't I put my breasts in your mouth and nurse you to sleep?" "I've been suffered from the fever, but the minute we got our marriage license," "my fever went away." "You know why?" "Because I love you." "I love being married to you." "Didn't I love you enough?" "Why do you want to leave me?" "Don't you want your Qinqin?" "Don't you want me?" "I haven't even had the chance to call your dad father-in-law." "Tomorrow I'll go see him and bring him back here, he can live with us." "I'll cook for him, and do the wash, and knit for him and for you." "What do you say?" "Don't let me die, okay?" "I'm burning up." "Mommy..." "Ice, I need ice." "Ice." "Can't you hurry up?" "Bring me ice, mom." "Ice..." "I need ice." "I'm burning up." "Mommy." "I'm on fire, I'm on fire." "Mommy." "I'm on fire." "Mommy..." "I'm thirsty." "Mom?" "I'm thirsty." "Mom?" "I'm thirsty." "Why don't you answer?" "If you won't answer," "I'll just keep calling." "Mommy." "Certificate of marriage;" "Zhao Deyi;" "Shang Qinqin." "Have some candy, Qinqin." "Zhao Deyi and Shang Qinqin, got married out of their own free will, in full accordance with the laws of the People's Republic of China." "This license certifies their union." "Zhao Deyi and Shang Qinqin, got married out of their own free will," "in full accordance with the laws of the People's Republic of China." "Zhao Deyi and Shang Qinqin," "in full accordance with the laws of the People's Republic of China." "This license certifies their union." "Zhao Deyi and Shang Qinqin," "Zhao Deyi and Shang Qinqin..." "Uncle gave me a beautiful aunt named Qinqin." "I loved her too." "Because of a little red book, they spent the rest of their days together." "I'm here with Uncle, Auntie and the other villagers, just like you are with your loved ones." "We work and live and love, and when the day is done, we come together to tell our stories." "My snows are pure white flour, and my rains are salt and cooking oil." "My willows sprout coats of cotton wool." "Thick in winter, fine in summer." "Gold ingots grow from my elms." "And silver dollars from my poplars." "Yuan Shikai tills my fields;" "Emperor Xuantong drives my cart." "My houseboy is General Feng Yuxiang." "My gardener is Taoist Master Zhang." "My cook is Goddess Wang Mu Niang." "My maids are fairy maidens." "Confucius keeps my books." "I've got acres and acres of fertile fields." "I've got thousands of mansions fair." "I've got stables of the finest horses." "And fields of good strong bulls." "I've got mules to pull my millstones." "And flour enough for all." "I've got more wives than I can handle." "And more kids that I can count." "I'm god's own goddamn daddy." "Don't you think I'm exceptional?"