Similar sorts of emotions are expressed in "Letting Them Go" as well. In this later story, the elderly Ah-wei inexplicably goes out and catches an egret, then just as inexplicably lets it go. Both of these actions are indirect expressions of a deep love he cannot give voice to yet nonetheless feels for his son Wen-tung.
類似的感覺，在新作〈放生〉裡依然存留著，老人阿尾莫名其妙去抓了一隻鷺鷥，又莫名其妙地把它放掉，都是在不知如何表達對兒子文通的摯愛下，不得已的的變形投射行為。