Ashan worked tirelessly until midnight, managing to clean up most of the mud in the house. Taking advantage of everyone being exhausted and not using the fire hydrant, he brought the soaked clothes in the usual aluminum tub used for bathing to wash by the hydrant. There was so much laundry that Ashan washed until just before dawn. As he worked, a figure appeared beside him, carrying a bundle of clothes—it was Xiao-Hui.
Xiao-Hui handed him two military biscuits. Ashan wanted to talk to her but didn’t know what to say at the moment. He thanked her, then gulped down the biscuits with some tap water. Xiao-Hui laughed at the way he ate.
Ashan moved closer, held Xiao-Hui’s hand, and asked, "Is your mom still mad at mine?"
"Of course," Xiao-Hui replied. "But let’s not talk about our moms. I’m not mad at your family, and you’d better not be mad at mine, or I really won’t speak to you again."
Kids had no say in adult matters, so they both bowed their heads and continued chatting and washing clothes. Before long, dawn arrived. Ashan carried the huge pile of clean laundry back home. He set up bamboo poles in the yard and hung the clothes one by one until the poles were completely filled. Since there was still more laundry to hang, he had to squeeze the remaining clothes onto the poles. Xiao-Hui even came over to help.
Ashan asked Xiao-Hui if she still remembered how they used to listen to radio dramas in the yard. Blushing, she playfully slapped him and scolded, "You shameless rascal!"
Unexpectedly, while they were joking around, the bamboo poles broke under the weight of the clothes, sending them crashing into the muddy ground. Ashan stood there stunned. The clothes were all dirty again, and they would need to be rewashed, but he was already exhausted.
Hearing the noise, Ashan’s mother woke up and called from inside, "Ashan, is that you? What are you doing?"
The moment Xiao-Hui heard his mom’s voice, she made a funny face at Ashan and dashed home.
Ashan’s mother came out to the yard, saw the clothes scattered on the ground, and her son standing there in shock. Heartbroken, she said, "No need to wash them again. Come inside and sleep. I’ll take care of it later."
No matter what, this was the night Ashan had washed more clothes than he ever had in his life.
阿三一直忙到半夜，才把家裏的污泥，大致地清了出去。然後趁著大家都累了，沒人用消防栓，阿三把浸濕了的衣物，放在平日洗澡用的鋁盆裏，來到消防栓旁洗衣服。要洗的衣服實在太多了，阿三一直洗到天快亮時，來了一個人影，也拿了一包衣物，在阿三旁邊蹲了下來，原來是小蕙。
小蕙拿了兩塊戰備餅乾遞給了阿三。阿三很想跟小蕙講話，但此時不知該說些什麼。謝了一聲後，就合著自來水，把餅乾囫圇吞了下去。小蕙看著阿三這付吃相，笑了出來。
阿三靠過去，握了握小蕙的手，問道：「妳媽還在生我媽的氣嗎？」小蕙說：「當然了，不要談你媽我媽的事，反正我沒有生你家的氣就是了。不過你也不准生我們家的氣，要不然我以後就真的不理你了。」
大人的事，小孩子也管不著。倆人低下頭去，一邊聊著、一邊洗衣服。很快的天就亮了。阿三把洗好的一大堆衣服搬回家去。在院子裏架好竹竿，一件一件的慢慢晾上去，一下子所有的竹竿都晾滿了。阿三只好把還有的衣物，分別再加晾到這些竹竿上。小蕙也跑過來幫忙。
阿三問小蕙是否還記得在這院子裏一起聽廣播劇的事？小蕙紅著臉，輕打了阿三一下，罵著：「不要臉，你壞死了！」
沒想到嬉戲之間，竹竿因為晾好的衣服太重，而突然斷了，衣服掉了一地。阿三當場愣在那裏。這衣物掉在污泥地上，不是非得重新再洗才行嗎？不過阿三已經是精疲力竭了。
阿三媽好像被這聲音吵醒了，在房內問道：「阿三，是你嗎？你在幹什麼啊？」小蕙一聽到阿三媽的聲音，跟阿三做了個鬼臉，一溜煙跑回家去了。
阿三媽出到院子來，看見一地的衣物，跟傻站在那兒的兒子，心痛地說道：「不用再洗了，趕緊回來睡覺吧！待會兒讓媽慢慢來清理。」
無論如何，這一夜是阿三一生洗衣服洗得最多的一次。
Typhoon Gloria Disaster in Taipei in 1963.
1963 台北市葛樂禮颱風災情