The weather's terrible.
Ghosts won't come out when it's like this.
That's good for us, though.
At least they can't beat us up if they're not here.
Can anyone hear me?
Is anyone there?
It's useless. Help's never going to come.
We're going to have to swim for shore.
Call your family before we get in the water.
Just call your mum. Hurry up.
Mum, it's me. Has the money lender been around again?
Am I behind on my payments?
I hope it'll be okay.
Can I speak to my son?
Bebe, Mummy will sing a song for you.
Like everybody my age,
I have to leave to make a living.
Your brother and sister will help support you.
But I don't want that.
I won't let you.
She needs money to support Bebe.
She doesn't have a choice.
I'll cry if you go.
Don't speak like that. Do you really think I want to leave?
You always speak like this. It upsets me.
What do you expect me to say?
You're going to leave your own child behind?
I really don't want you to do that.
Last time, you lost your temper when I tried to stop you,
but I still stopped you from leaving.
It's not like I want to leave.
I can't earn a living here.
Who's going to pay for Bebe's schooling?
I won't let her go.
What's this?
What is it? What is it?
- What is it? - What's this?
A turtle.
"Happy Turtle Festival."
This is a mushroom.
It's up there. It's up there.
Are you Ai Qin?
I hear you can get me to the UK.
How much do you charge?
- $25,000. - $25,000. That's a lot.
That's the price. As an illegal, you won't find cheaper.
Can a person earn a lot there?
This is a guy I helped.
He got rich within two years.
What a car!
How long will it take to pay off the $25,000?
One or two years.
Have you brought the deposit?
Here's $5,000.
Thank you.
Say goodbye to Mum.
Say goodbye to Mummy.
Give a kiss to Mummy.
Mum is going to England to make lots of money.
Please take care of yourself.
Dress warmly.
Call me when you can.
Look after yourself.
I don't know if this is the right thing to do.
Call me often.
Are we there?
Where the hell are we?
Hey, come here. Come here.
- Who are you? - We're here to pick you up. Come here.
Put your bags down.
Call your family.
They need to release the final payment for your journey.
- Hurry. - Mum,
you need to make the final payment immediately
so they'll let me go.
I can't speak long. It's their phone.
I'll call you later.
Don't be scared. Come on, get up.
What are you doing?
Come with me. Come with me.
I want to go by myself.
The car's over here.
This way.
I've paid all the money. Why do I have to come with you?
I don't want to come.
Come! Come with me. Be quick about it.
Why are you crying?
Who's this?
£250 per week! Bloody marvelous!
I've just picked up a friend.
Very nice. One day, I'll introduce you.
Talk to you later.
Lots of money.
I just introduced Miss Wong to someone. She's got a good job.
- How much does she make? - £250 per week.
What does she do?
- Massage? - Of course.
You think you can make £250 washing dishes?
- I don't know how to massage. - It's easy. I'll show you.
I've introduced so many girls to this.
# There are some wild flowers on the road
# You mustn't take them
# Another kiss and my heart trembles
# You ask me how much I love you #
I'm tired.
There's nothing in the fridge. You want some water?
No.
The rent here is £25 per week.
The toilet and bathroom are upstairs.
Hurry up. Get up.
That's your bed. Give her a mattress.
£25 for this?
What do you expect? Buckingham Palace?
Anyway, I'm going to bed. You sort it out.
Take this one.
Where are you from?
Fujian.
My name's Xiao Li.
I'm Ai Qin.
This will keep you warm.
Wait a moment.
Where are you off to?
Get out.
Today, he's the cook.
Ai Qin.
Come here.
I got you a work permit.
- Work permit? - £250.
It's £250, or forget it.
That's it?
It's all you need. Ghosts don't care.
But that's not me.
It doesn't matter.
But this isn't my name.
I'm selling this cheap.
I bought it for £500,
and I'm selling it to you for £250.
I like you. That's why I'm giving it to you.
You've got a lot to learn. Come on.
You see these cigarettes?
This is Ghost food at the employment agency.
With this, you can get a good job from them.
- The Ghosts take bribes? - Who doesn't?
And I put money in with the cigarettes.
You'll all be able to buy houses like this one once you've made enough money.
It's cheap.
A meat factory.
Shut up! That's bloody awful!
Shut up! I'll sing.
Sing with me!
- I'm so tired. - Me, too.
Let's hope we finish soon.
Why are you crying?
Sometimes I just can't control myself.
- Is it because of your son? - Yes.
I'm afraid I won't be able to provide for him.
What about his father?
I'm afraid he's going to start asking where his father is.
Does his father give him money?
He did offer money, but I didn't accept it. I don't want anything to do with him.
It's so little.
£100 for a 40-hour week.
What did you fucking ask?
- Why do we pay so much tax? - Nonsense.
Do you know what you are?
You're nothing, an illegal. Fake name, fake surname.
You're lucky to have this job.
You think it's easy?
I'm telling you, don't cause any trouble. If you want to work, work. Otherwise, fuck off.
Mum, could I talk to Bebe?
Are you listening to your teachers?
I can't take you to school.
You've got to be strong in your heart.
Why did you fight with your classmates?
Remember, Mum is always with you.
God,
when can I go home?
This is so hard.
Can you hear me?
Ai Qin, what's wrong?
I can't stand this anymore.
I don't know when I'll see my son again.
Maybe he won't want me when I get back.
Hello?
How are you, darling?
How are the children?
What are you looking at? I don't want to play with you peasants!
She's losing it.
She's going to give us hell tomorrow.
Be careful.
Rent money!
£50 for two weeks.
Good boy.
Here's for this week.
Xiao Li?
I'll pay next week.
What? You don't have the money?
I sent all my money home.
That's no excuse.
I'll pay next week.
It won't be the same amount next week.
You'll have to pay double. Do you understand?
The landlord is coming.
What are you doing? You've made the kitchen so dirty.
You tidy up the kitchen. Do you hear me?
- What are you doing? - Here.
- Why is it short? - Only 11 people paid this week.
- Who didn't pay? - Xiao Li.
Here's £55 for us.
Give the rest to Robert.
It's raining again.
This Ghost is so stupid.
If we were in China, I'd beat him to death,
but he's the type to call the police. Don't provoke him.
Let's go in. Let's go.
Look at your swollen eyes.
You can't get out of work forever.
How can you stand that bald head?
Disgusting bitch.
You're no better. You're always calling your wife in China.
You keep telling her that you love her and that you're going to bring her to England.
How do you know?
I've heard you on the phone.
Go with baldy, then.
He's got a house and land.
You're getting mud on me.
You're worried about mud on you?
That's wrong. You need to get the dirt off.
- But my hands are getting messy. - So what?
Hurry up.
Mr. Lin?
Where do they send these spring onions?
Asda, Sainsbury's, Tesco.
Supermarkets.
Oh, my god! That's a toilet?
We should buy more today.
We just got our salary. We should splurge.
You cook or I cook today?
Let's buy some chocolate.
It's so expensive.
It's for the people at the job agency.
So you want to bribe her?
Ghosts like to be bribed.
Listen to yourself. Cheeky one.
Everything's so expensive.
Look, Chinese vegetables, 78p.
Look, spring onions.
Maybe I picked these ones myself.
Wow, 58p. They're so expensive. What a rip off!
We wrapped those onions, but we can't even afford them.
Ai Qin, how many boxes did you do?
I only did four.
- Not bad. - I did six.
- I did seven. - You all did so well.
The boss did the best.
This is much better than that chicken wing.
Your chicken wing fell on the ground.
Robert.
Fuck! Look, he's holding her.
This is for Ai Qin.
- A really nice one. - It's not cooked.
I'll buy you a pair of shoes.
- It's okay. - When did you become so nice?
When did you buy me a pair of shoes?
I forgot. I forgot, sorry.
Up yours, baldy. I hope you choke.
Ai Qin.
- Come here. - I'm having breakfast.
Come here!
Be warned.
Mr. Lin is my boyfriend.
He's mine. Got it?
Men are heartless sons of bitches. They're cheap.
If you treat them nicely,
they treat you like a dog.
If you treat them like shit,
they lick your feet.
My husband left me for another woman.
Everyone has problems.
You may act tough,
but I can tell you've been hurt.
What do you know, country peasant?
I've got to go.
- What's wrong? - I just called my family.
The money lender came again.
I thought you borrowed money from your friends.
No, from money lenders.
They threatened my mum.
They said they'd kill her.
Your payments are late?
I regret it so much.
I shouldn't have left. I wanted my mum to have a better life.
It'll be okay.
# A person wandering away from home
# Is missing you, dear Mum
# The steps of a traveler
# On the other side of the world, without a home
# The winter snow, with the snowflakes
# Soften my tears
# Walking on and on
# Walking across many strange places
# For many years #
Close the door.
Do you want to make more money? You're always complaining about it.
I know of a good job.
I have friends in London.
They run a massage place.
Lots of girls work there.
You could pay your debt quickly.
It's not for me.
Don't you want to make more money?
Help your family?
No, thank you.
I haven't finished yet.
- What? - I heard there's cockling up north.
It pays very well.
Some of the others are coming with me.
It's an easy way to make money.
What do you think?
Think about it.
Come on!
We're working for a local farmer today.
It's tea and milk mixed together.
Fuck!
What happened?
It looks like there's been fighting here.
Let me have a look.
Door's open.
Somebody's pissed in here.
Chio!
Where are the others?
Fuck!
Nobody's here.
No one's here. There's no answer.
- Is that the landlord? - Fuck! Clean it up, quickly!
He's such a prick. We're fucked.
They're all coming. Are you?
- No. - Why not?
What do you mean, why not?
- It's too dangerous and too dirty! - Too dirty?
You shouldn't have come to England if you were worried about dirt.
Why are you here? Your Robert's not dirty. Go to him.
You do shit jobs. Now you ask me to do cockling.
You want me to look like a country peasant?
You are a fucking country peasant, more so than the others.
- I can't take this anymore! - I don't care!
Fuck off!
- I'm going to Robert's. - Fuck off!
Fuck off! Go away! Fuck off, quickly!
I don't need you. Fuck off, quickly!
Take your toothbrush.
Mum, it's me.
I'm going to change job soon. The boss has found us better work.
Housing conditions are better.
If you need me, call this number.
Can I speak to Bebe?
Hello, Bebe. It's Mummy.
Mummy is going to move to the seaside soon.
You can go to the seaside, too.
You can call, "Mummy! Mummy!" And I'll hear it from this side.
Hurry up!
It's mostly garbage. Let's leave it.
We should wash the dishes.
Push it.
What is that smell?
How many rooms are there?
It's very smelly, isn't it?
- Go get the mattresses. - Why is it even worse?
Such a small room.
Only two rooms.
Ai Qin, look over there. It's really pretty.
Our home is just on the other side. Your son is there.
- Look, there's a rainbow. - Yes, it just rained.
It stretches halfway across the sea.
I hope this is a new beginning.
I think that rainbow is a good omen. It announces a new beginning.
How does the rainbow announce that?
It's there in the sky, so it's a new beginning. That's all.
This is our first day, and we see a rainbow.
It's like it's welcoming us.
Like this.
Scrape them together, and then put them in this.
Then keep shaking it.
- Xiao Li? - Yeah?
We've worked so hard, but we'll only fill about four or five bags.
That's £30 today.
There aren't many cockles here.
The other area looks better, but the Ghosts don't want us there.
It looks like they occupy that area.
If we went cockling there, we could make double.
Yes, there are loads of cockles there.
My legs are killing me.
Fuck off!
Have some water.
Are you all right?
This is fucking dangerous.
We can't go again in the fucking daytime. There's too many of them.
I think we should go at night from now on.
They all hang out at bars at night.
If we go cockling at night, we can avoid them.
Let me make some soup.
I could put our cockles in it.
The weather's terrible.
Ghosts won't come out when it's like this.
Fuck! Tide's up. Quickly, let's move!
Fuck! It's coming fast!
It's moving fast!
You've put all our lives in danger!
What the hell are you talking about? You want to drive?
You think I'm not fucking worried?
- Turn right. - No, it's left. You're going the wrong way.
The shore is that way.
Get out of the van.
We'll head for that sandbank and try to get across.
Don't go! Don't go! There's quicksand!
Stay with the van.
Is the water high over there?
Can we swim across?
- They're telling us to swim over. - I can't swim.
Is it safe over there?
Some people got stuck in the sand.
Stop crying! You just fucking cry all the time!
Let's swim to shore.
Call me Mummy. It's Mummy. Don't you recognize Mummy?