A-Mao spends his days exploring with his little sister and his buddy A-Bao. When they are hungry, there are sweet potatoes and snails to eat, and sometimes they can eat some of the pork belly that his mother gets as a gift. His father cannot find work and is depressed, often drinking. Apart from washing people's clothes, A-Mao's mother prostitutes herself in exchange for pork to feed her family. A-Mao hears his parents quarrelling and he understands where the pork belly comes from. He starts to detest his mother and refuses to eat the pork belly that he once liked so much.