This work of fiction consists of four novellas. is set in China; in the story, the identities of Xiaomeng and "I" gradually merge. It is a humorous allegory of the conflict between tradition and modernity. In Who Knows, the author reflects on Chinese traditions, having already left China and gained enough imaginary distance. shows the seduction by the foreign and its conflict, convergence and integration with the author's native Chinese culture. In , everything boils down to the profound loneliness of the human heart that no one can escape. Each novella is relatively self-contained; structure and language style are fundamentally different. The voices of the characters weave together into a symphonic narrative, and the language radiates richness and complexity. All the fictions, however, are deeply rooted in reality, and so the many layers of language form the baroque architecture of this book. Fiction. Asian & Asian American Studies. Women's Studies.