Lulu has left Beijing for Berkeley, and Beibei and Niuniu feel lost. The three have been inseparable since Niuniu came back from America four years ago.
Over lunch at a chic French restaurant, 36-year-old Beibei tells Niuniu: 'I really wish I had a child.'
Niuniu is surprised, because Beibei has always been adamant about not wanting to be a mother. 'I'm proud of being a self-centered, hedonistic Chinese woman,' she always says. 'I'm the manifestation of social progress in China.'
'Is your biological clock ticking away?' Niuniu asks.
'Yes,' she says. 'But I don't want to have children with Dabin. I don't love him and he doesn't love me. Any feelings of trust and respect between us are gone. Maybe I should have divorced him a long time ago.'
'Well, Lulu and I encouraged you to,' says Niuniu. 'We talked about this many times. You always said 'men are all the same'. You have an open marriage and you take lovers whenever it suits you. We thought that was what you wanted.'