Brothers is not a tale of two individuals struggling to overcome. Rather, it is China’s story, and the experience of Baldy and Song Gang can be seen as the germination of the “modern” and the “old” ideologies that currently duel to establish credibility in modern China.

If the characters in English can be said to determine their fate, then love—most specifically, failed love—is where that individuality finds its expression. The tale abounds in secret crushes, love affairs, adultery, obsession, and broken hearts. Love becomes subversive, a personal route through the complexities of a conformist society.