Summary

Marie Jiang continues to reflect on the period of her life when Ai-ming lived with Marie and her mother. Ai-ming decided to use forged documents to travel into the United States to apply for amnesty, as Marie’s mother was not eligible to sponsor Ai-ming due to her low income. During this time, Ai-ming continued to tell Marie the story of her family.

The community of singers and booksellers in Wen’s home village of Bingpai celebrates the marriage of Wen the Dreamer and Swirl. Meanwhile, in Shanghai, Big Mother Knife experiences a growing tension between her and her husband, Ba Lute, who spends all of his time working for the communist party. They take care of their three children, Sparrow and his two younger twin brothers. Wen and Swirl have a daughter, Zhuli, but Big Mother Knife is not able to...