One Child

Hey!

Don't be a pussy!

-Relax yourself, please. -Hey!

Go home!

And take your stupid car with you.

stupid boy.

Come on!

-Call an ambulance! -Come on, man!

Ajun: Hmm.

-Hi, mei. -Hi, you all right?

Hi, I'll be there in a minute.

Hello, this is qianyi. Thank you for calling me.

What is this about?

I have a message from your mother.

Your mother here in guangzhou.

Mei, are you there?

Hello?

I don't know any mother in guangzhou.

-You were adopted. Yes? -Yes.

I am talking about your mother, who had you adopted.

I am a friend of hers.

What message?

She needs your help.

What do you mean?

Her son, your brother is in trouble.

What brother?

His name is ajun.

He was born after your adoption.

An african man was killed in the street in my city.

And your brother was arrested for the crime.

Arrested and convicted.

I am journalist for a newspaper here, city news.

I reported on the case.

And your brother was not involved. He was just a witness.

Mei?

Yes?

Can you come here?

To guangzhou?

-Yes. -What can I do?

Because you are from England, it will help us.

And you can stay in my apartment.

And I will get everything you need.

Your mother is desperate to see you.

Is she there? Is she with you?

No, she's in her home and I am in my apartment.

We have appealed against your brother's sentence.

What is his sentence?

One moment.

Careful.

I can organize everything once you are here.

All you have to do, is get your flight and your visa.

But tell no one. Just tell people you're meeting your mother.

This is most important.

Don't worry, mei. I will take care of you.

You will be safe. I promise.

I will send you the link to my report on his case.

But it will tell you nothing of what really happened.

We will reveal the truth at the appeal.

Trust me, mei. Please.

You were adopted from the guangzhou orphanage on 16th of April, 1992. Yes?

Yes.

Your adoption number is 2-9-8-5. Yes?

Yes.

And you have a wax burn mark, right side.

I have a birthmark there.

No. You mother told me it is a burn mark.

She made it, before you went into the orphanage,

In order to identify you,

In the hope that she would see you again.

Please read my report.

Bobby!

Hi! Mom? Dad?

There you are. Jim...

Aw, how was your journey?

-It was fine. -Oh, you look well.

-No, you don't. You don't look well. You look tired. -Mom!

-Are you working too hard? -No!

-Are you sure? -Mom, I'm just...

No more than anyone else.

All right. I hope so.

-Where's dad? -Busy with his book.

He's scratching himself again.

which means he's got to an important bit.

Jim! Mei's here.

-Hello mei! -Hi dad.

-Be with you in a moment. -There.

Okay.

Maybe, I am a bit tired.

Oh! Nice, quiet weekend.

-I'll take my bag upstairs. -All right.

What would you like to drink?

Tea, please. Thank you.

Hello, mei. I'm sorry, sweetheart.

I just reached a point where I couldn't possibly stop.

That's okay. What's the book?

-It's a re-interpretation of the peloponnesian war. -Oh.

Katherine: For which no publisher will show the slightest interest.

I'm sure they will, dad.

it's lovely to see you.

Lovely, lovely, lovely.

My tutor thinks I can get a posting in san diego.

The astrophysics center.

Hey! That would be something.

That certainly would.

-He's promised to see what he can do for me. -That's marvelous.

Their facilities are amazing.

Oh! Congratulations!

And I've had a message from china.

From my birth mother.

Not from her directly, but from a woman contacting me on her behalf.

Oh, that'll be a scam.

No, it's not, dad. She wants to see me.

-Who does? Your birth mother? -Yes.

-Mei, this has to be a scam. -No, it's not.

There was a scam only last year.

Do you remember in the newsletter?

I know, but this isn't.

The woman I spoke to, had the day of my adoption, and my adoption number.

People can find that out.

And she asked me if I had a burn mark, where I have it.

-Oh that's a birth mark, mei. -She said, it's not.

She said it's a burn mark.

That my birth mother had marked me before she abandoned me,

In the hope of...

If she were to ever see me again.

And your birth father? Do you know anything?

He died 11 years ago, apparently.

Oh, that's terrible.

How did she know where to find you?

She already had the day she put me in the orphanage.

And the name the orphanage gave me.

The rest of the information she got from there.

And what do you know about her?

She lives in guangzhou.

That's really, all I know.

Did she say why she wants to see you?

Because...

Because, I suppose she's been searching for me.

What do you want to do?

Well, now that she has made contact...

-You want to go and meet her? -Yes, I do.

Well...

I think if you want to meet her...

-You should go. -Is that all right?

-Yes. -Oh.

Yes.

I won't go if you don't...

We'd already put some money aside for you,

Should you ever want to make that journey.

Yes, we did.

Do you want one of us to go with you?

No, she doesn't want one of us,

Chaperoning her around like a 12-year old.

No. No, of course.

But, you certainly have our blessing, mei.

Yes, you do.

You don't have to worry about that.

It's important for you to go.

It was always in our mind, for you to do this.

And we must make sure that you get a lovely hotel.

Yes.

We'll be in charge of that. So you, stay in contact.

Yes, 'cause we're gonna want to know everything.

Not that we want to interfere, of course.

I will call you everyday.