The next morning, Ling Ling is still at the hub, but she's not feeling well. She's worried about her brother, who was supposed to see a doctor in western China, but he stayed behind to see Lili-Ling. She asks if he's trying to seduce the doctor, and he says he is just trying to protect her brother from his enemy. He tells her that he saved the doctor because he knows that the doctor can't be trusted, and that's why he didn't want to let him go. Ling Ling asks if the doctor is married, and she says that there's a certain type of person who knows that they don't have any hope, and they just bury their heads in their feelings. She tells him that the rain's getting heavier, so she needs to find her way back to her brother's house. She wonders why he would hurt himself, since he was in pain, and why he'd be lying to her again. He says he'll leave once his wounds heal, and then she'll come back. She doesn't believe him, and tells him to go away.