on february 28, 1947, the new chinese nationalist government, the kuomintang, began its violent suppression of island-wide protests, which resulted in 40 years of martial law and the death of as many as 30,000 civilians. (narrator) ama never wrote the autobiography! i didn't know how to feel. it did make me want to get to know my xiao ayi better. i was never really that close to her since she was alwa busy working. (narrator) on june 20, 1987, i interviewed ama. my written notes say: "at 20, ama married grandpa. she had no say in it. she was very upset." i can't remember if she told me this in taiwanese, most of which i can understand, or my cousin yi-ga helped me translate it. i constantly question my own perception and memory. is this a matter of language or my confidence? this time with mom as translator, she confirmed that ama was interested in another man when she married grandpa. ama wrote that she stopped thinking about him after she had her first child. (narrator) i remember my feeling of shock in 1987 when my cousin explained to me how you cannot speak out against the government be