The story is simple: a teen-age boy, Xu Yun, leaves his poor rural village in an obsessive quest to find his prodigal and newly prosperous father in the big city of Zigong.

NEWYORKER: Taking Father Home

Xiaofen, a young legal secretary in the boom town of Zigong, hears bitter and desperate clients recount their tales of personal and commercial woe, but she has problems of her own: her live-in boyfriend is a drunk and a gambler whose chronic debt and jealous anger make her life hell.

NEWYORKER: The Other Half