As Zhang and Chen earn a living, they are forced to sacrifice a healthy family life. Since they can only take time off work during Chinese New Year, they are forced to entrust their children to their grandmother's care. It is evident in the film that Yang and Qin being raised by a grandmother is not ideal. Due to their parents' absence, Qin and Yang do not have a normal and happy childhood. Being constantly pressured to do well in school so they can support their parents makes them feel used. Before their parents return home, Yang and Qin are succeeding academically. However, conflict arises when the parents arrive and Qin, being a teenager, rebels thinking that she doesn't need to listen to her parents, due to their absence. Before their arrival, Zhang and Chen admit their difficulty with parents, saying: “When we are at home we don't even know what to say to our children.” Due to their absence as parental figures, they are unable to relate to their children, but still try to act as authority figures. Parents, especially Father Zhang, appear to exploit their children by emphasizing the importance of their academic success. This is shown many times in the film, such as when Chen calls Qin and the first words out of his mouth are "you got your report card" and followed by "you did well". Qin