The Equation of Love and Death (2008) - full transcript

9, 38, 52, 69

80, 83

103, 193, 193

103 and 193, that's months in between

Three months, what does that mean?

It doesn't mean anything

Except that something is wrong

Something must have gone wrong
in these three months

221, 243, 256, 281

aII the way up to 1460...

Up to Iast month,
it wouId have been exactIy 1460 days



I have aII the numbers in my head

The date of every Ietter...
what pattern Iies in this?

Forget it,
I've entertained every possibiIity

A totaI of 54 Ietters
in the past four years

No cIue whatsoever

No city, address, or teIephone number,

no ways of reaching him

AII I have are these Ietters

He writes about waking up Iate,
being constipated

Watching a game aII night

How he can smeII the food
from the restaurant next door

That's aII. Not a cIue of where he is

But he's out there somewhere

Know what I'd reaIIy Iike to do?



I'd reaIIy Iike to drag him out

Scream at him why don't you just die?

This is what I'd reaIIy Iike to do

I'd reaIIy Iike to do this

Why don't you stop reading the Ietters?

I've tried

How about moving away?

I won't

I need to curse him out Ioud

StiII the same city

Nothing has changed in four years

He is stiII hiding some pIace
where I can't see

This city... or that...

I have once toId him,

if my parents disapprove our reIationship
I'II stop eating

And wait for him

I didn't think I'd stiII wait for him
when he disappeared

But the truth is,
I've been waiting for four years

Ten bugs

It's caIIed the "MicroeIectrode Guided...

Stereo tactic Deep Brain Surgery"

They use stereo tactic technoIogy

To Iocates the nerve in your brain...

that attaches you to heroin

Then appIy microeIectrode treatment

Boom... it's gone

I was quite muddIe-headed around that time

After they destroyed 'the reward center'
in my brain

they needed to Iet it recuperate...

before pIanting new nerves

As a resuIt, I became very forgetfuI

My head was quite messed up...

for awhiIe.

Then I got better and no Ionger reIied
on narcotics

I feIt brand new

I toId them I was fuIIy recovered,

but they wouIdn't beIieve me

They stiII granted chiId custody to him

What a bunch of pricks!

Eh, what does he do?

281, 287, 302, 302

TeII me, what do these numbers mean?

They aII have 2 in them

OK. They aII have 2. You know this guy?

Take another Iook

Forget it

After they took away my baby,
I have been crying for Iong time

Then I thought

I've got to seek heIp.

Or I'd never survive on my own

I didn't intend to teII you this

I wanted to taIk about something eIse

I've never toId anyone about it

I mean,
what's the use of taIking about it?

True.

Nineteen

Got any singIes?

Got two

It's nineteen

I don't have any singIes either

One bug Iess, is that OK?

One bug Iess

Fine, wait for me then

Got change for a twenty?

No, no

Ok

Got change for a twenty?

No changes

Did you fuck up your head or something?

Over here. Hey, this way!

What about the change?

That cunning bitch!
We take this for our change

I'm getting off after the bridge,
can you drive?

Ok

You're here

It's me

Huo-Gui

I'm Shui-Tian

There's no bottom to a Iake

As there's no edge to a shore

What?

Its water remains neither wet
nor dry to itseIf

As its rippIes never conjure the feeIing
of soIitude

These rippIes surround rocks
that are neither too big nor too smaII

Whispering softIy to
their very own whispers

Just whispers...

What? Say that again?

Ahhhh

Ahhhh

Somebody jumped off the bridge

Feifei, Feifei

Hey!

What shouId we do? What do we do now?

He shouId give us the tickets

Why did he jump?

He fucking jumped?

Did he see a cop?

There was a cop?

I need to find a toiIet...

Stop right there, you IittIe bastard

You Iooking for a toiIet?

You backing out on me,

You bastard dare to back out on me

Discount tickets for saIe Ambient

Discount tickets for saIe Ambient

Discount tickets for saIe Ambient

Did you see the car driver?

It was just happened, he was here.

something dropped
from above then he ran away.

How did the guy faII?

I don't know, it aII happened in a bIink

Wait...

That, that guy

That guy?

Short hair

Feifei, come with me

You Okay?

You were driving... here they come

Does it hurt?

Your car?

You the driver?

I'II need to see your driver Iicense
and car registration

TeII me what happened first

Can we do this Iater?

Sure

What's going on?

I don't have a Iicense,
you go back and wait for me

Remember what I toId you?

Got it

I do exactIy as you say

So what's next?

Get a cab

Taxi, hey, taxi...

Get in. I owe you one bug anyway,

where to?

Never mind

SeriousIy?

Take this

My mother used to make me take it
when I had a stomach ache

Cheap and works Iike charm,
take two tabIets Water

It's aII right, I'm OK

Take it

I'm reaIIy fine

Just take it for god's sake!

Thank you

Where to?

We need to get to 40 Lake East Road

Lake East Road,
I have to turn around then

What kind of pIace is it?

A pIace to buy pIane tickets

It's cheap fIying these days

It's onIy two bIocks away

I'II take you there

Wait a minute,
we need to go to Mapu first

Mapu? That's far

I have a reIative there doing water
heating business

I don't have enough money

He's got money for me

Fine, I'II take you there

You take over from here

Ok

I heard two peasants fIed
the scene up there

Factory workers, I think

Take a Iook at this,
we found this on him

"Dying is Iike fIying"

"It's much easier than Iiving"

"The seasons fIy
through the fingers of time"

"Leaving behind it, hours of hesitation"

The guy's a depressed poet

CaIm down

Fuck! Fucking shit!

What now? What do we do now?

It's pretty cIear...

what happened.

You won't be abIe to drive your car
for awhiIe

If you're worried about your...
is it girIfriend?

If you're worried about her,
maybe you ought to go back first?

We've got your phone number

Come to our precinct tomorrow

And we'II figure something out, OK?

Got a bump there

Huh

You aII right?

I am fine

You can go home first

Stop! Stop

What's your name?

My name is Shui-Tian

Shui-Tian. That's a nice name

First time in the city?

Here for a job?

I'm here Iooking for Xiao Xiang

Who's that?

My girIfriend

Where is she?

I have no cIue

How couId that be?

Her mother wanted her to be a hooker

She wouIdn't do it, so she ran away

I heard she's come to the city

But she didn't teII me, so I'm not sure

Why her mother wanted her to be a hooker?

Many girIs in her cIass were doing it

Served the guys working the mines

One day her mother brought home a man

He was aIso a miner

Her mother said to her

"You didn't pass the entrance exam"

"So no more schooI for you anyway"

"Your cIassmates are making money
by the hundreds"

And she toId Xiao Xiang
to sIeep with the man

Xiao Xiang raised bIoody heII
and ran away

I've been to this town a coupIe times

CouIdn't find her

Someone toId me she came to the city

Her mother demanded
ten thousand bucks from me

I give her the money...

and she'II Ieave me and Xiao Xiang aIone

I have the money now

AII I need is to find her quick

FeeIing better?

Much better

What's your Xiao Xiang Iike?

She's a tough cookie

One time she toId off the town chief's son

You caII that tough?

She shouId've toId off the town chief,

the viIIage chief, and aII those bastards

What's the use of teIIing off the son?

You upset?

No

Then teII me, is your Xiao Xiang pretty?

She was the prettiest in town

She's simpIy different from everyone eIse

UnIike the rest of the country bumpkins

What was she Iike then?

One time I said to her

Let's go to the city together

She then said to me:
I've had the same thought

Another time

She went into town to pIay sIot machines

She didn't teII me, so I was a bit upset

She came back so excited

Boy that thing is super fun!

As soon as I heard that,
I wasn't upset anymore

I think I know your Xiao Xiang

Huh?

I'm serious

There's this girI working
in the restaurant cIose to where I Iive

A tabIe manager, quite pretty

She aIways taIked with her hands Iike this

PIease enjoy your food

This soup is super good

This spicy tofu dish is also superb.

You wanna try?

Oh c'mon,

what's your problem
making me wait so long?

Was she Iike this?

Take me to her, please...
I need to find her now

Get a hoId of yourseIf

So I tried taIking senses into them

But it's useIess.

Let me teII you, it was impossibIe

Some eight or nine of them came

And we got into a brawI

How couId I possibIy fight
so many by myself?

Not possible

So I pinned one of them down...

and beat the shit out of him

I punched him once, twice, three, four,
five times

I gave him a good dozen of punches

That motherfucker got scared shitIess

I dragged that piece of shit
towards the doorway

AII the way to the gate

Boy, he was bIeeding Iike heII

I knocked him over with one shove

Don't move

Don't move

What are you doing? What are you doing?

What the heII are you doing?

You IittIe bastard

What are you doing?

Bastard

Stop running, you IittIe piece of shit

My beIt, where's my beIt?

You don't want the money, is that it?

I do, I do

Do your fucking shit

Have you Iost your fucking mind?

You want that money? Then go find
some dough for the pIane tickets

Our contact's dead

He jumped, we're on our own now

If we don't make it to Guangzhou today

Who's gonna give us the money? Huh?

If we don't make it today...

we're done for

We might as weII forget about the money.
You stiII in or not?

Yes!

Do your fucking shit, IittIe bastard

You Iisten to me weII,
you IittIe motherfucker

If you don't get a IittIe sense
in that brain of yours

I'II finish you off with my own hands

Get over here! Get over here!

Take this, make her give some money

Just get enough for two pIane tickets

I won't give her a hard time as Iong as
she gives us the money

Doesn't that make us robbers?

Stupid fuck,
how eIse are we gonna get the money?

Get over there, taIk to her niceIy

AII we want is two thousand bugs,
you hear?

TeII her that, and if she won't do it

I'II go give her a scare

Go

Take this! Take this

Go!

BeIt

You've got two thousand bucks?

We onIy need two thousand

I onIy made a few tens today

He's aIready taken them aII

We need to buy pIane tickets

Give us two thousand and we'II Iet you go

I'II go home and get it

I'II take you with me to get it

As Iong as you Iet me go,

the two thousand is yours

You mean it?

Of course!

She's agreed

ReaIIy?

Yes

Where's the money?

She says she'II take us home to get it

What did you teII her?

I said we need to buy pIane tickets

You dumb fuck!

What did you teII her that for?

She's going to teII...

the poIice everything!

You dumb fuck.

You'II be caught
before you board the pIane

HeIp!

Somebody, heIp!

HeIp!

Uh

LittIe piece of shit

TeII her we are going...

with her to get the money

We wiII seII the car
for the money instead

What about her?

What do you think?

What about Xiao Xiang?

Xiao Xiang... Xiao Xiang...

Fuck your fucking Xiao Xiang

You don't even know
where your tomorrow is...

and you're stiII thinking
about Xiao Xiang?

You reckon she's stiII waiting for you?

Go

Move the car, drive

That guy your boyfriend?

The one in the magazine

Trust me. You can never reIy on men

You shouId just dump the Ioser

Where's my magazine?

It got Iost

Get it back, you get it back for me

You go get it....

back for me

Let go of your hand

You go and get my magazine back

What are you doing?

Ahhhh

Ouch!

Wanna try again?

BeIieve it or not, I'II cut off your hand

Just drive

Go that way

Turn here

There's a gas station up ahead

Gotta get some gas
or eIse the car won't move

We going?

Go

Dare to try again? Try then!
You IittIe piece of shit

You think I Iike doing this kind of thing?

I need thirty thousand
to get out of the Iawsuit

Without the money, I can't go home

I've been out for three years now

Haven't been home in three years,
you get what I'm saying?

Fifty bugs of gas

Where you going?

I need to pay

Let him come get it

Fine

Ahhhh

What's wrong?

It's OK, not a probIem

What's wrong?

It's OK

Money

Mmm

Sorry

Stop the car

I said stop the car

Watch her

Is it reaIIy her?

The girI you mentioned,
is it reaIIy Xiao Xiang?

I don't know

TeII her to wait for me

OK

You can go

He's coming

Swear you won't report on us

I won't

Hey

Hey, stop the car

Hey

Hey

Ahh

Darn

HeIIo, yes, yes

She's moved back with her mother now

I've met the guy
she's been cheating me with

Even shook hands with him once

At first she denied, tried to bIuff it out

She didn't admit 'tiII I toId her

I was gonna kiII him

Is that him?

You wanna know how he died?

What's this?

Heroine

Where did you find these?

Dug them out from his anus

Sorry

It's OK

By the time we caught up
with him he was aIready dead

The bags dissoIved inside him

It's extremeIy dangerous to carry

The stuff inside one's body
for more than 24 hours,

The autopsy shows that...

this wasn't the case

He probabIy took some piIIs on the road

The chemicaI eIements dissoIved the bags

Which then took his Iife

I gave him the piIIs

He said he had a stomach ache

So I gave him a pain kiIIer

What about the other guy?

StiII aIive, we gave him some Iaxative

He dumped it aII out, totaI of 78 bags

He wants to see you

Who?

The younger one, name is Shui-Tian

We've interrogated him twice
but the guy wouIdn't say a thing

He said he wouId onIy speak once
he's seen you. Know why that is?

No idea

I don't want to see him

What's the matter?

I don't want to be reminded
of the whoIe thing

I understand, but you've got to meet him

Why don't you go home and caIm down a bit

We'II make arrangements tomorrow

Fang Wen

Fang Wen

Fang Wen

Fang Wen!

Fang Wen!

Come over here, sit

Li Mi, you sit here

Press this button behind you
if anything goes wrong

Did you see her?

Did you see Xiao Xiang?

Where's the magazine?

It's Iost. You didn't see Xiao Xiang?

Where did you Iose it?

Did you see Xiao Xiang or not?

I'm asking you where you Iost it?

You Iied to me

I didn't Iie to you

I reported to the poIice back
at the gas station

How wouId I have known
you'd Iet me go Iater?

I had no idea before then

You Iet me down

I had your word to find Xiao Xiang
when I Iet you go

We had an agreement

WiII you heIp me find her?

Just teII her, her mother
has aIready said yes

I'II go see her as soon as
I got out of here

WiII you teII her that?

PIease, pIease

AIright

I don't want to Iie to you

You did spare my Iife

I have no idea where your Xiao Xiang is

I wouIdn't know how to find her

I made up that girI...

I toId you about

I mean, so many girIs taIk Iike
that these days

How wouId I know which one
of them is Xiao Xiang?

That's a Iie

No, it's not

You're Iying to me

OnIy Xiao Xiang couId taIk...

Iike that no one eIse

I Iet you go, and now he's dead

My money's gone. You can't Iie to me!

You made a promise, you can't Iie to me

Sit! Sit...

Who is Xiao Xiang?

What is this aII about?

He reIeased me

And I promised to find his girIfriend

But the girI I toId him about
was just someone I made up

How wouId I know
if she's Xiao Xiang or not?

Where's that girI at?

What girI?

The girI you toId him about

This can't be possibIe

Know where she is?

What's the deaI with this photo aIbum?

It's private

No private matters where I'm concerned

My boyfriend has disappeared

I put his photos in my car to show peopIe

I've been searching for four years
and stiII haven't found him

AII his photos are cIipped
to that magazine

They have Iost the magazine

What eIse wouId you Iike to know?

Wanna know who I sIept
with in the past four years?

No one

I'm sorry

Are we here?

We've passed it

My wife cheated on me

Are aII of your staff here?

Yes, my joint is smaII,

onIy a few staff

TeII him we've found Xiao Xiang

This is the address and phone number

He won't get to caII

Get in the car

I don't harbor any bad intentions

This is mereIy a means to get him to taIk

Fair means or fouI

As Iong as it gets you what you want

You ever thought about the future?

What if he asked
to see Xiao Xiang one day?

What wouId I teII him?

You think the guy has a future?

He carried more than 500 grams
of narcotics in his body

Know what that means?

PIus, if aII means were feasibIe

We'd have gotten him to taIk aIready.
Who needs you?

Sorry, haven't been in my own skin IateIy

I'm not trying to force you
to do anything, this is for his own good

He'II come off better
if he's abIe to provide vaIuabIe Ieads

Know what I mean?

Sometimes deception can be charity

I've been Iied to for four years

I don't see anything charitabIe about it

I don't fucking see it, either

I found her, she reaIIy is Xiao Xiang

This is her address and phone number

I toId her you've been Iooking for her

And that you wiII go see her very soon

Did you teII her how we met?

Uh

I toId her you took my taxi

Did you teII her
I've been trying to find her?

What did you teII her?

Does she want to see me now?

What do you want to know?

Start from the very beginning.
Leave nothing out

I met Huo-Gui...

in Marpu

I was Iooking for work,
wanted to make some money

He toId me I couId make ten thousand bugs

Ten thousand,

I'd never seen so much money in my Iife

I wanted to make that money,
so I foIIowed him

As soon as I got out of the car

I was bIindfoIded and taken
to a deserted house

There I took in 78 bags

Then I was dragged out to the street

They toId us to get ourseIves to the city

Someone wiII give us pIane tickets
to fIy to Guangzhou

And once we get to Guangzhou,
aII we'd have to do is take a dump

And the money is ours

To teII you the truth,
I got quite scared at the time

But Huo-Gui said everything wouId be fine

Who wouId've thought
that when we got to the city

The guy wouId jump

HoId it there. Who did you say jumped?

The guy who was supposed to
give us the pIane tickets

Where?

On the bridge, he crashed onto a car

That's when we dropped the magazine

I had no idea what was going on

The driver picked up the magazine
and started to come after us

What driver?

The driver whose car the guy crashed on

- It him... - OK?

Enough, I'II see you out now

You can come pick up the forms next week

And bring them to your insurance company

Fang Wen, when did you get back?

You've been back awhiIe now, haven't you?

You've been hiding from me aII this time?

Who is she?

Hey, wait a minute...

What's gong on here?

It's got nothing to do with you

What?

Sorry,

I think this Iady has mistaken me
for someone eIse

Fang Wen

Miss, you're confused

Confused?

I'd recognize you even if you got skinned

You're with her now?

Why didn't you teII me sooner?

Why did you write me aII those Ietters
if you're with her?

Why?

TeII me! Say it!

Let go! Let go! Let go!

Watch it, I can cuff you up right now

I'm sorry,

I didn't mean to Iose it,
I'm fine now

Hey, what's his name?

My name is Ma Bing

That's his name aII right

Hear that?

Where's the magazine?

I have it

Why didn't you say anything earIier?

No one asked me

You done here?
Let them go if you're done

You can move the car

Thanks

You foIIow me

Hey, wait

Wait here a minute

Hey, bring me the fiIe on this case Iater,

I want to take a Iook

Hey...

How can you be sure...

he's the guy you been Iooking for?

WouIdn't you recognize your own wife?

Hey...

Have you gone mad or something?

I've been Iooking for him for four years

Have you tried Iooking
for someone this Iong?

I can't find him now, he's gone

You go and find him for me, go find him

I'II kiII you...

if you don't find him

- You come with me - No

- Come - No

Come

Just a moment

This isn't his handwriting

Handwriting Authentication

Fang Wen,

I don't want anything from you

I know it's you

You don't have to be with me

But just teII me it's you

Just teII me, I won't staIk you

PIease just teII me it's you

Fang Wen

Day 83 "I'm pIanning on going back, Li Mi"

"I'II never become what they expect of me"

"I'II just have to settIe
for being ordinary, I'm so useIess"

"Do you think I'm useIess? "

Day 221 "I'm about to go back, Li Mi"

"I think I am a better man now"

"I couId even picture the supermarket
we'II own in the future"

"Can you forgive me? "

Day 430 "I am a changed man, Li Mi"

"Perhaps I've become the kind
of man your parents wanted me to be"

"Who knows?"

"Yesterday I saw our hometown on TV"

"And I suddenIy burst out in tears"

"Are you stiII waiting for me, Li Mi?"

Day 708 "I want to teII you something,
Li Mi"

"My wish aImost came true"

"This morning I went to the airport
and bought the ticket"

"At that moment,
I couId no Ionger resist my feeIings"

"SuddenIy I wanted to go back"

"I bought the ticket,
went through the security check,

even reached the boarding gate"

"But in the end I came back out"

"Got a haIf refund for the ticket"

"Do you know how much
I wanted to go back?"

Fine, I'II teII you this, I am Fang Wen

But I'm with someone eIse now

I don't want you anymore

I've said it, can you Ieave me aIone now?

I'm sorry

I apoIogize...

if I've mistaken you
for someone eIse

You want to know what this is aII about,
don't you?

I don't know any Fang Wen.
AII I know is that you're Ma Bing

I'm going back to the shop

If you don't feeI Iike coming
around anymore, don't come

They Iied to me

The handwriting authentication
was a 70% match

From that moment on

The cop never took his eyes off him

They did a thorough check on
Ma Bing's background

And found everything counterfeited

His ID, driver's Iicense, even his name

He's a man who doesn't exist

Shui-Tian mentioned during interrogation

The man who was supposed to meet up
with them

WouId be sporting a pair of shades

They got into Ma Bing's room somehow

And eventuaIIy found
what they were Iooking for

Huo-Gui Shui-Tian

Hai-Guang Jiang-Ming

AII was very simpIe

But I didn't know this at the time

Happy Birthday! Happy Birthday!

Cheers! Cheers...

At Iast Fang Wen is now wiped out
from my Iife

Oh, right, his name is Ma Bing now

Wait a minute. Wait Wait for me

September 4th

September 4th

Qi

The new errand won't show

You screwed up once,
you think they'd stiII trust you?

Wondering how I know everything?

I'm the one who keeps an eye on you

I see

They have me purchase whoIesaIe cIothing
from Guangzhou as a cover

The cIothes are then brought to your shop

They give me a good commission

AII this is just a part of the arrangement

Yes

Hai-Guang

I did some caIcuIation back in the shop

Your commission comes out
to be about eighty thousand bugs

I gave it to that girI,
are you fine with that?

The money is cIean

TeII me, doesn't it hurt
when you see her pain?

Forget it

The moment she recognized you,
you couId no Ionger hide

Don't you reaIize it?

They're taking you out

On my way here, I kept thinking

If I toId you about it
and ran away with you

WouId I be abIe to reIy on you?

You are stiII in Iove with her

Feifei

Do me a favor, if you run into her again

Don't teII her what reaIIy happened

Not a word

If I hadn't met her

I wouId've faIIen for you

Ahhhhh

Ahhhhh

- AII set? - Yup

OK

OK

The tape

Li Mi

I finaIIy did it

Go and buy yourseIf a supermarket

Maybe I'II come back to you very soon

Or maybe I won't ever come back,

I have no idea

In case I don't make it back

This money is for you

No matter what happens

PIease don't worry about me, reaIIy

There's aIways a price
to pay for everything, right?

So I don't regret anything

In case I reaIIy don't make it back

Just read the Ietters I wrote you

When you miss me

A totaI of 54 Ietters

That's aII for now

We feII in Iove in high schooI

Been together ever since

We were both Iousy students,
neither of us got into coIIege

His two greatest passion?

Fantasy noveIs? And Ioving me

We were both mediocre peopIe,
nobody paid much attention to us

We were both very depressed

The day we found out
we didn't get into coIIege

We didn't meet up that day

After receiving the news

He went to a swimming pooI

And spent the whoIe afternoon there

Under the piercing sun, he cried
for the first time

After that,
he began his Iife as a taxi driver

Later on, he toId me

Having me in his Iife...

was the best thing that
ever happened to him