Curious about the piece, Chang called the United Daily News to make inquiries, only then learning that San Mao was a woman, lived in Spain, and was Taiwan's hottest author as well as its top writer of "drifting literature."
為探聽這篇文章，張拓蕪打電話到聯合報，才知道三毛是個女人，人在西班牙，是當時台灣最炙手可熱的作家，台灣「流浪文學」第一人。