Explore every episode of the podcast Books & Beyond

Wou Sankwei, the son of a late Chinese official, decided to travel to America to pursue his own dreams.

Mary Carman showed up at Alice Winthrop’s doorstep, expressing her willingness to take Alice as her daughter-in-law.

After learning about the life of Alice Winthrop, Mary Carman dropped her prejudice against the lady her son hearted and was convinced that though having come from a humble background, Alice achieved success through her own efforts.

The argument between Miss Evebrook and her mother revealed the history of Alice Winthrop, the lady Will Carman hearted.

Though commercially successful, Mr. Spring Fragrance can’t help but feel underappreciated and inferior now and then, for lack of academic achievement. But luckily for him, Mrs. Spring Fragrance was always there to cheer him up.

Will Carman proposed to his girlfriend, but his proposal was not received with pleasure. “I cannot marry you while your mother sees me as beneath you,” the young lady replied.

Will Carman was debating whether to introduce his girlfriend to his mother, who preferred another lady to be her future daughter-in-law.

The young man that Mr. Spring Fragrance had mistaken as his wife’s potential affair turned out to be Laura’s former fiancé. Mr. Spring Fragrance felt an immense sense of relief.

Upon receiving a letter from his wife, Mr. Spring Fragrance was henceforth bothered by the thought that his wife might have fallen for another man.

During her visit to San Francisco, Mrs. Spring Fragrance wrote two letters, one to her husband asking for an extension of her stay in the city, and the other consoling her friend Laura, who was troubled by an unwanted betrothal arranged by her parents.

After moving to America with her husband five years ago, Mrs. Spring Fragrance, the wife of a Chinese merchant, mastered English and the way of thinking held by Americans. While comforting her neighbor Laura, Mrs. Spring Fragrance quoted an American poem: “’Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all?” which, however, got her husband concerned about her take on their arranged marriage.

Let's hear how Manling, the narrator of this audiobook, introduces Mrs. Spring Fragrance!

Follow the journey of Mrs. Spring Fragrance and witness the struggles and fights of those living on a rapidly changing exotic land, while holding on to their cultural traditions, or more importantly, to their identities.

Little Choy was envious of her elder sister's present, and started a hunger strike to vent her anger. To talk some sense into the little girl, Choy's mother told a tale about how two sulky crocodiles went on a strike by refusing food and sports. Instead of getting what they originally wanted, the crocodiles had to swallow the bitter fruit of their own making at the end.

After Pat, the little white boy, turned eight, he was taken away from his foster family, and sent to an American couple, so that he could be raised as a proper white boy. Ever since then, Pan's protective elder brother was gone forever.

With the request of Anna Harrison, the white lady, Pat, the white boy joined the school with his sister Pan, who was a Chinese. They were quite close and would defend each other.

On the street of a Chinatown in America, a white lady came across a little white boy, who was raised by a Chinese family, and spoke only Chinese.

Out of guilt, the young teacher Miss Mason wanted to stop the order from being carried out. So she went to have a conversation with Ku Yum's father about the upbringing of the little girl, but only to find out that Ku Yum was actually a BOY!

In a Los Angeles Chinatown school, a young American teacher felt the obligation to interfere in the life of a smart yet undisciplined Chinese girl Ku Yum. This let to an unexpected situation, in which Ku Yum was ordered to be taken away from her sole guardian, her father, and put under the custody of a rescue home in another city.

Lee Chu and Lee Yen had run to the beach on their way to school. But at the end of the day, they were not punished for they had brought home some finely shaped pebbles. Instead of keeping these exquisite stones, Lee Chu and Lee Yen decided to share the stones with their infant brother, the Little Fat One.

Ku Yum wanted to amuse her new-born brother, by feeding him some snacks and soaking his feet in mud water. It all went well, until Ku Yum's parents came upon the scene and thought Ku Yum wanted to hurt her baby brother out of jealousy.

Ah Yen felt bad for his scalded finger. Despite the lovely weather and chirping birds, Ah Yen was sad and sour, until a blind man with a bright spirit showed up nearby.

Three-year-old Ku Yum followed her father into the classroom, and hid under the teacher's desk. She carried candies with a strong smell, which later led to a misunderstanding.

Enticed by the street vendor's candy, Yen took some money without telling his napping grandfather. But the treats did not turn out to be so sweet and pleasant as he had anticipated.

Nothing can cheer up Li Chung O'Yam, not luxurious dresses, lavish meals, nor sweet lullabies, not even her parents or brother. The little girl was pining for some unknown reason, until the arrival of another little girl, Ku Yum.

Tsin Yen consented to a man's request of spreading a mat in his father's yard without giving it a second thought. To Yen's surprise, the mat was enormous and covered the whole yard. Yen thus lost his playground all because of saying a careless “yes.”

Yen was cheerful seeing the blue sky, the lively bugs, and the blooming flowers. Yen cherished these bright and beautiful things that some might not even be grateful enough to notice.

Two farm boys were dreaming about their future glories, one becoming a great general and the other a poet. They were on their way to the market where they were to trade their pigs for some school clothing. But while they were loafing and dreaming, the pigs escaped.

A lovely story that a mother told her children, explaining why fairies were invisible to humans' eyes.

"I would like to eat you." A boy said calmly to a man, which scared the man into a piece of petrified statue.

The little princess had meant to play tricks on her servants by inquiring the whereabouts of her pet cat, all the while keeping the little animal up her own sleeve. The servants, instead of pointing out the truth, made up some marvelous tales about a magic journey the cat was taking.

What kind of future awaits a seabird with a broken wing? And how will she be able to keep up with her family?

The animals bid farewell to the children after the charge against Ming and Mai's relative was dropped, and they were later brought home by their uncle. But none of these would have happened without the help from the animals.

Two children Ming and Mai were exiled to a wild forest after one of their relatives had been claimed to have broken the law. All by themselves, Ming and Mai were terrified in the dense and mysterious forest. But surprisingly, they received a warm welcome from the animals living there, for this forest was where Ming and Mai's ancestor had released all the animals he had rescued from the market.

The prayers of Liu Venti and Pau Tsu were answered. They received a letter of forgiveness from their parents.

The twins went missing. To find the boys, the two grandfathers took an adventure in a haunted forest. On the search, the two men were moved by the affection they both felt towards the children, ending the aversion the two old men had felt towards each other before.

The twin sons Little Waking Eyes and Little Sleepy Eyes were taken very good care of by their grandparents in China. Still, they started to miss their father and mother and decided to start a "rebellion" to claim them back.

After three years of marriage, Liu Venti and Pau Tsu welcomed their twin sons, both naughty and heart meltingly adorable. The boys revived the couple's memories of their childhood in China. For the sake of their children, Liu Venti and Pau Tsu decided to send the twins to China, seeking to rebuild the connection with their families.

Lovebirds Liu Venti and Pau Tsu decided to continue their relationship despite the disapproval from their parents. Though born and raised in traditional Chinese families, they were resolved to start a new life together in America, after a conversation on the hill.

A little boy Ah Wing laid his eye on a delicate peacock lantern sold at a street stall. He wanted to buy it, but to his surprise, the lantern maker turned down Ah Wing's request because the lantern was a precious item for his sick bed-ridden son.

A little girl named Ah Leen collected some sparkling green leaves in the wild as a gift for her baby brother, who was about to have his hair shaved for the first time after birth. Worthless as the "gift" might appear, Ah Leen's mother admired the gift and the girl's love for her baby brother, which pleased Ah Leen immensely.

Will innocent children be left feeling sad? How will they navigate the complexities of being misunderstood? And will love ever triumph hate?

This Children's Day, join us as we delve into the captivating stories of Edith Eaton, better known by her pen name, Sui Sin Far. These stories will take you on a journey to discover the lives of children who were loved, lost, or misunderstood in the complicated adult world. Step into their world, embrace their stories, and experience a world beyond imagination.

While the mother is still weeping, her elder son runs to her with the news that his son, the grandson the mother has always dreamed of having, has arrived. At last, there is new hope for the family and for the mother.

They arrive back home after the execution later that morning, and the mother asks her elder son to take her out behind the hamlet to the old grave to weep. As the mother grieves the loss of her younger son, she sinks into the earth and all past sorrows flash through her mind.

When the young prisoners are brought out, the mother spots her younger son in the crowd and rushes toward him. But he is tied to another bold young woman who pulls the frightened younger son away from the mother while singing aloud their great cause as they walk towards their death.

The mother decides to go to town and witness for herself her younger son's execution. Her elder son and the cousin's son are with her and they wait together outside the jail's gate for that dreadful moment.

In desperation, the mother talks about trading their land for more money to save the younger son, still thinking that money is the issue and the jail keeper won't let his son go because they are poor. But her elder son refuses to sell the land, which is now his land. After all, he is soon to become a father of his own child.

The elder son and his cousin relate to the mother all that they saw and heard in town earlier that day.

The elder son finally returns at sunset. Even with all the money he offered to the jail keeper, he fails to bring his little brother out or even see him with his own eyes. The mother sinks further in grief, knowing that her young son and twenty more young men are scheduled for execution in the morning.

The mother sends her elder son to town with all the money they have to bail the younger son out of jail. As the mother wallows in sorrow, her cousin and his wife come to keep her company at this difficult time.