The short stories in this collection encompass a whole series of settings and scenarios: from modern day to the time of the Emperors; from Vietnam war zones to royal palaces, fishing villages, and crowded riverboats. Each story is a world of its own: a eunuch from the imperial court whose past painfully returns; a modern household with deep-rooted secrets, resentments, and regrets; a mother who faces a very tough choice for her daughter's good; a...