Ha’s father, a village tailor, had committed suicide after he had gambled away their house and savings, leaving Coi and twelve-year-old Ha homeless and destitute. At the funeral, Coi had pulled her son into her bosom. “Weep for your father, son. We will mourn him one full moon, and then we will mourn him no more. If you love your mother, then be a virtuous man. That is all I ask.”
