HA JIN: The [INAUDIBLE] of the drama really bothered me terribly, really bothered me because there was a American franchise, fast food franchise, that burned chicken at night in China, and the Chinese wrote articles in defense of the American practice, saying that this would do good for the business eventually. Will save a lot material, chicken, food. I just couldn't buy it no matter what. There were people who starve. Why are you burn chicken at night? I just, no matter what, I wouldn't take it. So that's why this was the initial impulse that drove me to write the story, because in the process of writing it, for me, there are a lot of misperceptions the way the Chinese employees, they look at the American boss, and also the American boss doesn't understand them. So there was kind of cultural clashes and also I think I want to create a kind of comic surface, a lot of a comedy, but beneath it, these people really did suffer, and they were fighting a lost battle, and capitalism eventually might prevail. So it's not just a funny story. I think there is a kind of back current beneath it for me, but of course, the reader can interpret it in different ways. But for me, I think that was obvious. Companies will always win the battle. This is after they discovered that the employees who had American salary, who had America salaries instead of Chinese wages, and he also burned chicken at night. That was his mission, and OK, let me see. OK, let me read this, OK. The next day, they told all the other workers about our discovery. Everyone was infuriated and even the two part-timers couldn't stop cursing capitalism. There were children begging on the streets, and there were homeless people at a train station and a fire house. There were hungry cats and dogs everywhere. Why did Mr. Shapiro want Peter to burn good meat like garbage. [INAUDIBLE] said he had read it in a restricted journal several years ago that some American capitalists would dump milk into a river instead of giving it to the poor, but that was in the US. Here in China, this kind of wasteful practice had to be condemned. I told my fellow workers that I was going to write an article to expose Ken Shapiro and Peter Jiao. In the afternoon, we confronted Peter. "Why do you burn the leftovers every night?" [INAUDIBLE] asked, looking him right in the eye. Peter was taken aback, then replied, "It's my job." "That's despicable!" I snapped. "You not only burn them, but also peed on them. My stomach suddenly rumbled. [INAUDIBLE] pointed at Peter's note and said sharply, "Peter Jiao, remember you are Chinese, and there are people here who don't have enough cornflower to eat while you burn chicken every night. You have forgotten your ancestors and who you are." Peter looked rattled, protesting, "I don't feel comfortable about it either, but somebody has to do it. I'm paid to burn them, just like you are paid to fry them." Yeah, I think comedy's hard. Comedy really, there's kind of high comedy that always make a point and really say something bigger, deeper about a lie, but that is hard. It's not just funny for funny's sake, that hard kind of high order kind of comedy is very difficult to write.