Wading Through the River of Women

If you asked me what my greatest talent in life is, I'd say it's not making money or running a shop. It's understanding women. I don't feel embarrassed saying it, because it's the truth. If you're willing to listen, I'll start with the year I was thirteen. My father was still alive that year, my mother was too, and my older brother had just married Xiulan.

After we had spent so much time together, one cough from my father saved both me and her. Some things aren't a matter of whether you want to do them, but whether you can. If you can't, you can't. No matter how much you want to, you still can't.”