Are you planning to tell her to accuse me so that you can escape?
Who can escape?
Why don't I
make those two pilots go to prison as well?
No!
We've done everything we could
for our husbands.
Salute!
The 11th Wing! You're dismissed!
BASED ON PAI HSIEN-YUNG'S WORK A GREAT LITERARY FIGURE OF TAIWAN
I have to send Zhi-jian his lunch at noon.
Can you send Mo-ting her lunch?
Time and distance.
Time.
Going back in time.
Uncle Jiang only went to fight in the battle.
Once the battle ended,
he would return with the 11th Wing.
Distance.
From my house to the airport.
From the airport to my house.
Three dots and one line.
THE 11TH WING OF THE AIR FORCE
Now that Uncle Jiang is gone,
the airport has become a lonely place.
Three dots and one line.
The angle has changed.
My direction has also changed.
I'm lost.
You came to school in the second period.
You're not allowed to take a noon break.
Go and plant a tree.
Next, we'll start constructing your runway.
We need to set up the equipment here.
Sir.
You can store the cement for the runway here for the time being.
Once the jets arrive, the old hangar will be demolished.
Until then, it will be used as maintenance workshop for our vehicles.
Hey, you just finished training, right?
I was trained in small force tactics.
Small force tactics...
That's a formation with two or four jets, and it's used for reconnaissance purposes.
Those jets are very fast.
We need only two or four jets.
We can preempt the enemies' move if we use them well.
Old people like us
are used to be out with the wing on a mission.
So, it looks spectacular.
But that's not how things work anymore.
Sir, I'll get going now.
Lady Qin.
I got lost on my way here.
You almost starved because of me.
Wait for me.
I've never gotten lost before.
Since Wei-cheng died
I feel lost.
Here you go.
I went to the Household Registration Office.
They said it's not required to remove someone's registration.
when they die.
Wei-cheng has kept me company for my whole life.
I will keep his name
by my side.
I wanted to stay until the end.
I won't get to do that after all.
I'm going to move soon.
Help me see
what things will be like in the end.
Dig in.
Don't come here anymore.
This place is not meant for you.
I'm the one who should stay here.
Qing didn't go to the U.S.
She's now in prison.
I betrayed her.
Please. Have a seat.
Lady Qin, have a seat.
Have a seat, please.
The P-51's are gone.
Yes.
They're getting a new fleet of jets.
What will happen to the old airplanes?
They'll be used for training
or as targets in the shooting range.
Yes.
It's time for them to be phased out.
Yes.
I have completed the handover.
Zhi-jian.
Yes?
You have to thank Qing.
She's now in prison.
That's why you're okay.
On the memorial day of your lieutenant colonel in the future,
can you and Wei-xun
help me burn some paper money for him?
I think it's time to hand it over.
Qian-yi has gone crazy.
She wants to go to prison to bring Qing back.
She's called the security officer.
Is Qing in prison now?
How come no one told me?
Now that we've met for the last time,
you should go home.
The security officer will be here soon.
Sir!
Madam Qian-yi Qin.
The deed to your house.
The man you claimed as servant turned out to be your uncle.
Did he bring this to your home from the mainland?
Yes.
I've given you the letter that he sent me.
Yes.
A short note.
It just says that he wants to meet you in Taiwan.
-Then... -He said he had received instructions.
From a woman named Bao-ru.
Bao-ru.
She was a dependent of the Air Force.
She joined the communists after her husband was killed in battle.
Does that mean many among the Air Force dependents know her?
All Air Force dependents know one another.
Especially the wives of the officers who were killed in action.
And Bao-ru was quite a social butterfly.
Don't forget
the thing that you promised me.
First, give me the names of the people who know and have contacted Bao-ru.
Qing.
Did you see Zhen Guo?
You wrote me so many threatening letters.
You know Bao-ru, don't you?
You caused Lieutenant Colonel to have to repent.
I'm his wife. I have to repent as well.
You were close with her in Nanjing.
Didn't I warn you
not to hang out with her?
Do you remember that?
You ratted on my husband because you got caught.
I won't let you off.
I will keep you company in this prison forever.
I didn't rat on Lieutenant Colonel.
Is he now in prison?
Is that why you're framing me?
Military police.
Qian-yi Qin.
Go to hell!
I'll make Wei-xun gets caught. We will all be together!
Write down the things that you didn't get to say.
You caught me. So let her go.
-One for one, right? -Write your note first.
I'll release her when you're done.
Write down every single thing.
I've forgotten everything.
There's nothing you can't recall here.
You'll even recall things that never happened.
Take her into custody.
Number 015, it's time for interrogation.
Come out!
Qian-yi Qin.
I'll be released after I rat on you.
I'll write down what you've done.
-And the things you've never done. -Go!
Go!
Qian-yi Qin.
When her uncle came to Taiwan,
she received news of the communist spy named Bao-ru.
Under the pretense of getting in touch with family,
she asked for your help
to contact the mainland and Hong Kong.
She helped the communists use family relationships
to emotionally blackmail the Air Force.
Shortly after that,
Zhi-cheng Han of the 11th Wing deserted.
Qian-yi Qin is
the Taiwanese liaison of the female communist, Bao-ru.
Just write what I said.
You'll be set free after you're done.
What about her?
Well...
It's unlikely that you'll get to see her again.
Is her husband in prison?
He felt guilty for betraying his country,
so he committed suicide at home.
She is
a selfish person.
She wouldn't have come here if her husband were still around.
No wonder she came now.
She said she was reporting you
to seek justice for her husband.
Did she come to see you?
Yes.
One ratting another out.
One for one.
Did she come here to take my place
or to rat me out?
To rat you out.
That doesn't make sense.
Then why is she still being locked up?
I suppose once I'm done writing,
I won't be released either.
On behalf of the country, I guarantee
that once you're done writing, you'll be reckoned as a repented person.
You'll be released soon and no one will trouble you.
No one will trouble me?
He repented.
Yet he committed suicide.
Who troubled him?
He made his life difficult for himself.
You had no plans to release me.
I hope your mom and sister are born to serve foreigners in the North!
Case closed.
You're ungrateful!
Keep each other company.
Don't ever have any hope of being released!
Who do you think you are?
A representative of the country?
We women are the country!
Number 016!
Pack up your things.
You'll be sharing a cell.
Sharing a cell?
You were in solitary confinement to prevent conflict!
There's no need for that anymore.
Hurry up!
You're not afraid of collusion.
So she has been released.
This is Qing's cell.
She's been released.
She wrote my name down.
Number 015, back to your cell.
Why are you still here?
-Didn't you write my name down? -Shut up!
I'm the leader here.
Lights out in one minute.
You'll sleep on the inside. I'll sleep by the door.
People will cry in the middle of the night.
I fear you won't be able to take it. Hurry up.
Why didn't you write my name down?
I've come in vain.
I just wanted to see
if the Qian-yi Qin who betrayed me
had become stupid.
Did you really think they'd let us switch place?
They made you hate me. Why didn't you rat me out?
Even if I did, they wouldn't let me out.
My interrogator said
that Lieutenant Colonel had killed himself.
Mo-ting, your father's home.
So? Can the Chief help?
His wife said
he had gone abroad for business after he left the military.
What business?
Import and export of audio equipment.
What audio equipment?
He's crazy.
Where did he go?
Get in touch with him.
Let's send him a telegram.
I asked her but she wouldn't tell me.
He was going to be promoted to lieutenant general.
But we messed it up.
She told me to never come again.
Mr. President.
My friends, Qian-yi Qin and Qing Zhu.
He was irresponsible,
just like Zhen.
Good for them.
Their squadron is now reunited.
Once they landed,
they couldn't live anymore.
They were weaker than us.
We could endure the hardships,
but they couldn't.
We have to put up with this forever.
That's not too bad.
We won't lead a good life outside of prison anyway.
Zhi-jian was dismissed.
He's now with the engineering team.
Wei-xun was very sensitive about it.
People made a few comments.
She felt insulted
and caused a scene.
The others couldn't take it,
so they moved out.
She stays at home all day
and vows to find out who the cells are.
She wants to know who ratted them out.
Did she catch anyone?
She caught one.
Who was that?
Me.
She insisted
that I worked with you to betray her.
She kicked me out of the village.
Lieutenant Colonel left you behind.
So, what are you going to do now?
Time passing
may not heal the wound.
But there's no way I can run away from it.
I'll learn from you.
When I was little,
my dad often took me to the stream
to watch people play with paper boats.
The neighbors' kids
had these boats which they had made out of paper.
Once they released the boats,
the boats would flow along with the currents.
They would meet with whirlpools
and rocks
and made a few turns.
They would flow down the stream,
and be carried away by the currents.
As they flowed with the currents,
they got to see what was around them.
What happened
to the boats after that?
Nobody knew.
But it allowed me to let my imagination run wild.
What you said makes me want to escape from here.
What unit are you from?
Which one of you is Mo-ting Shao?
Pack your bags and come with us.
You don't have to stay in class.
Did the chief send you here?
Who are you talking about? Let's go.
My only daughter.
Xu-hui's daughter.
She has disappeared.
I went to the regional director of the Women's Federation for help.
She said she couldn't help me.
Her instructor said it was someone from the government.
I waited all day at the Military Police to see their chief.
He told me to go home and wait for further news.
All right, stop crying.
Hello.
Chief of the Military Police?
Thank you.
You said the car plate number was...
The instructor said it was 151136.
No. It could also be 151186.
They drove away too fast. He couldn't see it clearly.
It started with 11.
I can't accept your case.
Hello.
Have we done something wrong?
Please give Mo-ting back to me.
I will divorce you.
I don't want to be an Air Force officer's wife anymore.
Mo-ting.
I just want to be a normal mom.
I scolded her every day.
I made her do homework every day.
Mr. President.
My friends, Qian-yi Qin and Qing Zhu
have been wrongly sent to prison.
-What's that? -They are the dependents of the 11th Wing.
Attached is the names of the 11th Wing officers who have been killed.
I hope you get someone to look into this.
A civilian should never tell on a government official.
We're doomed! She filed a complaint!
Silly girl!
I will go to prison!
Give me back my daughter!
Our daughter,
Mo-ting is
really brave.
We're useless.
But she isn't.
She's a brave girl.
I'm sure they've come for her
because they saw this letter.
She's not missing.
Don't worry.
She'll be fine.
The government is fair.
They won't do this to us.
I'll wait for her at the village entrance.
I'm sure the government will send her back.
The President is still angry.
Your grades are not good.
The President is very concerned.
The letter that you wrote was pretty good.
Your writing was so full of emotions.
But don't write more letters.
-My two godmothers... -A child should study hard
to contribute to the society and country.
Don't concern yourself with other things.
They are beyond you.
Do you want to go home?
My two godmothers are not communist spies.
They are dependents of the Air Force.
This matter...
The President knows about it.
Let's go.
Mom!
Mo-ting!
Mom!
You'll get a good beating from me one day, Mo-ting!
Don't hit her! You can't hit your daughter.
She's so bright. How could you hit her?
Who are you guys?
Why did you kidnap my daughter from her school?
To Mr. President
Those at the top have seen it.
They've launched an inquiry.
The higher-ups didn't know about it.
Some subordinates have misused their power.
And the President wonders
if the rumor of Lieutenant Colonel Wei-cheng Jiang's suicide was true.
The President read her letter
and the list of the 11th Wing officers who had been killed.
In the list,
there were names of heroic young men aged 21 and 22.
When the country was in crisis, they joined the Air Force voluntarily.
The country will never forget their sacrifices.
The 11th Wing was completely wiped out.
And Lieutenant Colonel committed suicide.
In Dongbei, the 11th Wing retreated without permission.
Perhaps they had no choice in that situation.
The higher-ups will let the matter rest.
Furthermore,
for the pilots of the 11th Wing who were killed in action,
the government will include their names
in the list of heroes who sacrificed themselves for the country.
That's all.
I hope you and your daughter watch your words and actions.
Sir.
Wei-cheng Jiang's wife and Zhen Guo's wife are in prison.
They're innocent.
The higher-ups never target the innocents.
Like I said.
There are subordinates who misuse their power
without the knowledge of the authority.
The abuse of power by the Military Court is a serious problem.
As for those two Air Force officers' wives,
we'll monitor the situation and take appropriate action.
Thank you, sir.
Thank you, Taiwan.
Thank you, government.
Get it done before dawn!
We're getting off easy.
Let's pack up first.
Let's pack both our things.
We'll think of what to say again later.
Think of what to say again?
They will release only one of us.
Are we going to rat on each other again?
One ratting on the other.
One for one.
I can't live with my conscience if I rat on you.
If you're released,
I fear that you will abandon me here
and not visit me anymore.
Let's rat on ourselves.
Then we'll know which one of us will be released.
Think carefully.
Did you do anything wrong?
Have you been brainwashed?
What did we do wrong?
We have been wrongly imprisoned.
No.
I should be in prison.
It's just that I came in late.
I killed someone when I was trying to escape.
On the way back to my old home,
Wei-cheng was caught and sent into exile.
I waited for him by myself in the factory.
I didn't see him.
But a despicable man showed up.
He did bad things to me.
I can still remember what he looked like.
Then on the boat,
I saw his face again.
His face
made me feel like
I let Lieutenant Colonel down.
So, I did it.
There was blood on my face
and on my clothes.
I stood on the deck of the boat.
I felt so distant
from the Qian-yi Qin of Renai East Village.
The boat.
The sea.
They felt so desolate.
Did Lieutenant Colonel know what happened?
I let him down.
They were irresponsible.
Please don't end up like me.
Hurry up and leave this place.
I'm just like you, Qian-yi Qin.
I can't go out.
I will stay here to keep you company.
When I came to Taiwan,
I used my body to get a boat ticket.
When I was at my wits' end,
I remembered I could come and look for you.
Had I known, I wouldn't have come.
We were equally powerless.
Did you find those men?
I slept
with the boat crew.
Even if I found them,
I couldn't kill all of them.
I remember that time when I got the boat ticket.
When I got onto the boat,
I didn't dare to look at the sea.
I was afraid of seeing Zhen.
I feared I would disappoint him.
But haven't we lived through those days?
What have we done wrong?
What have I done wrong?
Those days were not a mistake. We were the ones who made mistakes.
We can't blame others.
We can only blame ourselves for not running faster and further away.
That's why we got left on the boat.
We've failed to keep up.
We wither away as the days go by.
Qing.
You're still young.
Your boat
is still close to the land.
Mine is too far away.
You should go out.
Otherwise, I came here in vain.
Hurry up!
Let's hurry and write this together. It'll be dawn soon.
Come on.
-I won't write it. -Write it.
Just do what we've just talked about. We rat on ourselves.
Start with what you can recall.
Let's start with our days in Nanjing.
Do you remember the curfews in Nanjing?
I caused so much trouble in the village
and destroyed the Air Force officers' morale.
At that time, you were already a communist spy.
Yes.
That was the first time a communist spy took me to a dance.
Yes.
What's wrong with us?
One of us wants to be a communist spy.
The other wants to repent.
Stop crying.
When you get out, look for Wei-xun.
Number 015. From today, you're a new person.
Did you hear that?
Come on. Hurry up!
Go.
Stay back, 016!
Put the steel mug on the floor to save our spot after class.
Let's go.
-Let's go! -All right.
Remember to look for Wei-xun.
A repented person is getting released.
Confirm your ID number and name.
Number 015, Qing Zhu.
Qing is out.
She's out.
I'm now all alone.
All alone.
Where is Qing?
That's fine.
She just got out. She shouldn't come here.
Ask her to see me after some time.
What are you talking about?
Has Qing been released?
She went out three days ago.
I told her to look for you.
She didn't.
I came here to tell you
-Mo-ting wrote a letter... -I saw her walk out the main door.
What's wrong with you?
You're the head of the village, but you can't even keep an eye on her.
Silence!
-You must find her. -Go back to your cell, 016.
-She has nowhere to go. -Back to your cell.
Wei-xun.
You must find her.
She has nowhere to go, you know?
Which school are you from?
Jinling Girls' College of Arts and Sciences.
I betrayed my teacher.
I'm graduating today.
She came the day before yesterday.
Then...
Keep your diploma in a safe place. Don't lose it.
Go home now.
SHIER GIRLS' HIGH SCHOOL
I didn't know you're not working today.
It's Saturday.
It's been a few Saturdays in a row.
TRAIN TICKETS
Put them in my bag.
I will repay you soon.
You didn't send your exam scripts to me.
Lady Qin
asked me to keep it for her.
Uncle Jiang
has passed away.
What?
The former lieutenant colonel?
He committed suicide.
I'll help you plant a tree.
Water it.
You got 22 points.
Won't your teacher kill you?
Didn't you once pass the exam?
After Lieutenant Jiang passed away,
I lost my interest in my studies.
Let's try again.
What about...
What about Lady Qin?
She's in prison.
Somebody said she's a communist spy.
That's impossible.
They were in the Air Force. The government wouldn't do that.
The government wouldn't do that?
I wrote a letter to the President.
Then someone wanted to arrest me.
They're all my friends.
They're not the communist spies.
You're too sentimental.
I don't want to go back.
I will place an ad in the papers.
I want to find Qing.
Lady Qin went to prison in exchange for Qing's release.
But she didn't go back to the village.
She's missing.
We have to start from scratch.
WORKSHOP
A YEAR LATER
I think it's fixed.
Try starting the car.
Okay, it's fixed.
Drive the car back to the garage.
Report.
Captain told me to inform you
to go back to the team once you're done repairing the car.
Report back to the team?
Give me the tools.
I'm not done repairing the car.
I'll remove the parts.
Remove the water tank.
-All right. -Goodness.
This posting is far from the bosses. No one bothers me here.
I have an easy life here.
I don't want to go back to the team.
Captain of the vehicle's team?
He's just a lowly major,
but he shouts at me for no reason all the time.
He's nothing compared to the lieutenant colonel of the flying team.
He was a lieutenant colonel,
yet he spoke to me nicely.
What's that?
Hey!
I'm still under the car.
Once upon a time,
a sergeant said that the world would be switching to jets.
After he said that, he went to repair cars.
Why has the hangar been turned into a garage?
Goodness.
Aren't you Zhao-jun?
Zhao-jun!
Goodness!
It's been a while!
You're back from the U.S.
Yes.
You look so handsome.
Which unit are you with now?
Which jet are you flying? I'll help you inspect it.
Enough of that.
It's just a normal transport airplane.
A transport airplane?
It should be the 8th Wing's.
But I haven't seen anyone from the 8th Wing lately.
It's newly established.
It's a newly-established transport unit.
-Let's go. -Where to?
Lieutenant Colonel's commemoration is tomorrow.
Let's pay them a visit.
I went there six months ago.
I don't want to go there again.
Madam Zhou told us not to go back there.
Madam Zhou.
Did you just come back from practice?
Is it yours?
Are you flying a glider now?
Yes, I'm in my second year.
I'm undergoing practical training.
My dad said something when I went home.
The aircrew and ground handling crew are going to split up.
The ground handling crew will move.
My family also has to move.
My father's engineering team has its own village.
I...
I'm taking the 5:30 p.m. train
to go back to school.
I can't see you off.
I have to go to the newspaper office and place a search ad for next month.
I'm looking for Qing.
When I first met you,
you were also trying to post an ad.
Let's have some ice dessert before we leave.
Go home after we finish eating.
Zhao-jun!
Sir!
Hey.
You're the leader of the practical training unit.
You're in your second year now,
but you don't hide from pilots?
I went to see you at your house.
What happened to your house?
Are you moving?
Someone came to check on the villagers
and said that my father is not a lieutenant colonel.
So, he's not allowed to live in the lieutenant colonel's housing.
Next week, we're moving to the engineering team's housing.
You're leaving me.
I almost missed you.
Take me home.
Let's go.
Goodbye, leader of the practical training unit.
When did you come back?
Yesterday.
He said Lieutenant Colonel Shao was an embarrassment to the flight school.
He betrayed his superior to escape punishment.
It's too far away.
You're afraid you'll never return after you fly out.
That's why you want to leave some memories and the pain.
Bring me the 1st Squadron leader right now!
They were going to burn his box.
If Zhen were still around, he would've approved.
Hurry!
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