Utilitarian and easily broken. But when they leave their home in the countryside to seek their fortune in the big city, their eyes are suddenly and shockingly opened. Together they find jobs, make new friends, and learn more than a few lessons about life...

Sisters Three, Five and Six don't have much education,but they know two things for certain: their mother is a failure because she hasn't produced a son, and they only merit a number as a name. Women, their father tells them,are like chopsticks；utilitarian and easily broken. But when they leave their home in the countryside to seek their fortune in the big city, their eyes are suddenly and shockingly opened. Together they find jobs, make new friends, and learn more than a few lessons about life...

Introduction

1 Under the Big Willow

2 A New Year and a New Life

3 The Happy Fool

4 The Water Dragon

5 The Book Taster's Teahouse

6 The Three Sisters Explore Nanjing

7 Six and the Teahouse Customers

8 Diagrams and Dialects

9 Three' Falls in Love

10 English Lessons

11 Uncle Two Visits the Gates of Hell

12 Homecoming

Afterword: The Story After the Story

Map of China

Map of Nanjing

Editor's Note: A List of Chinese Festivals

Acknowledgements