in 1983, hou directed a short film segment in the omnibus film "the sandwich man" (1983) (the title segment, also entitled "the sandwich man") which also featured segments directed by wan jen and zhuang xiang zeng entitled "the taste of apples" and "vicki's hat". the screenplay for all three segments was written by wu nien-jen, and "the sandwich man" segment is based on a short story by writer/novelist huang chunming entitled ""his son's big doll"" (or "puppet"), whereas "the taste of apples" segment is based on a short story of the same name and "vicki's hat" is based on "xiaoqi's cap", all also by huang. the film was an omnibus film that followed a similar omnibus film done a year earlier, "in our time" (1982), which featured short films directed and written by other taiwanese filmmakers edward yang, yi chang, , and chao te-chen. the film was also nominated for three awards at the 1983 golden horse film festival: best supporting actor (chen bor-jeng who appeared in hou's segment "the sandwich man"), best child star (ching-kuo yan - who appeared in the "taste of apples" segment), and best adapted screenplay (wu nien-jen).