In Pai's study she spotted the book Anecdotes from Old Shanghai by the mainland Chinese author Chen Dingshan. She became inspired by a story in it called "Mrs. Zhan Kills Her Husband."
在白先勇的書房中，她看到大陸文人陳定山所寫的《春申舊聞》，其中一則〈詹周氏殺夫〉引發創作靈感。