There are two images from this segment that stand out. They both concern children at inflection points.

We haven’t checked in with Yang-Yang for a long time, so it’s good to see him again. He doesn’t speak in these scenes, but is very busy. First, he shows up at a pool and notices that “the concubine” has changed into her swimming suit and is getting ready to do laps.

Yang-Yang watches her in silence. It’s hard to take anything important away from his watching, other than some distant admiration for this girl who looks like she’s a full foot taller than him.

His response to this swimming is to go home and — creating the first memorable image — practice holding his breath underwater in the bathroom sink. This lead the nurse to knock furiously, wondering why he’s been in there so long. Yang-Yang doesn’t respond, he just continues with his practice.

Ting-Ting hears the nurse knocking too, but she’s busy as well, getting into a lovely white dress that she keeps tugging at from the back, hoping to create some kind of silhouette. She finally answers the nurse and tells her it’s ok to use her mother’s bathroom.

Then Ting-Ting steps out into the hallway and sees Lily. She stares at her coldly and asks, very slowly, if she’s seeing Fatty. Ting-Ting answers in a very quiet, shy voice, no, we’re just friends.

This leads to the second memorable image — Lily just stares at Ting-Ting for an uncomfortably long time. Edward Yang just lets his camera capture it quietly in a medium shot. Eventually, Lily slowly glides past Ting-Ting and goes back into her apartment.

These are children completely unprepared for the challenges they have created for themselves. But you have to admire their quiet, stoic courage, which appears to be a family trait.