The next morning, Ching-ying tells her mother that she has grown so much since her mother's death. She tells her that she quit her job in China to care for her mother, and that every day she tells her about what has happened over the years. She says that they are "family" and that as long as she can see her smile, it is "worth the hard times" . The doctor, Fu-xing, says that Ching-ing's mother is dying, but that she needs to be mentally prepared for the worst. One month after her death, she becomes critically ill again, and the doctor says that he already knew in his heart that this would be her last. He says he wants to meet her father, and she asks him to take a sit with her and talk with her mother alone. After three minutes, he says, they talked for three minutes and then went back in and talked with each other. When he is gone, he asks her to bury him with her father