But I will win and give her my spirit, because this is the way a mother loves her daughter. -Ying Ying

But I was no longer sacared. I could see what was inside me. -Lindo

I like to go somewhere where I learn something I didn't know before, like the Dry Tortugas between Florida and Cuba.

Then you must teach my daughter this same lesson. How to lose your innocence but not your hope. How to laugh forever.

I saw a girl complaining that the pain of not being seen was unbearable... Now I have perfect understanding. I have already experienced the worst. After this, there is no worse possible thing.

A girl is like a young tree, she said. You must stand tall and listen to your mother standing next to you. That is the only way to grow strong and straight. But if you bend to listen to other people, you will grow crooked and weak. You will fall to the ground with the first strong wind. And then you will be like a weed, growing wild in any direction, running along the ground until someone pulls you out and throws you away.

Shanghainese people are good negotiators, they're very persistent, and you grow up in an atmosphere like that - very competitive. That becomes part of your personality, Shanghai personality becomes part of yours.