Prologue Summary

Twenty years into his marriage, Lin Kong returns to Goose Village to ask his wife Shuyu for a divorce, something he's been doing every summer for over a decade without success. Home for over a week and with only three days left, he keeps putting off asking Shuyu for a divorce, despite promises to his longtime sweetheart Manna Wu, a nurse in the military hospital where he works.

Lin finally asks Shuyu to go through with the divorce, and she agrees to comply. When they get to court, however, her brother Bengheng lodges a protest, she starts to cry, and the judge declines Lin's request. Then the family goes out to eat together and agrees to disagree about the divorce, as they do every year.

Lin returns to Manna, who is disappointed but not surprised. She suspected he would not try too hard...