The Rent Collector

Ki is not happy about having to provide Sopeap with wine, and he wonders if she can even really read. Nonetheless, he helps Sang by sharpening the pencils that Lucky Fat, an orphaned child who also works as a picker, helped her find. Sang is extremely excited about learning to read; in fact, she has trouble sleeping the night before. As she lies awake, she thinks about the broken clock that hangs on the wall of their home. Although she tells Ki that she likes the flowers that decorate it, the clock actually helps her “to remember that even though something is broken, it can still serve a purpose” (36). Sang plans to eventually have the clock repaired because even “[s]ometimes broken things deserve to be repaired” (36).

The next morning, Sang prepares for Sopeap’s arrival: She cleans her home as best she can, organizes the scrap paper she has found, polishes the bottle of rice wine with which she will pay Sopeap, and finds a sitter for Nisay. However, Sopeap does not show up until late, and she is clearly too drunk to function, though she nevertheless demands the rice wine. Sang gives her the wine and pencils and sends her away before Sopeap can see that Sang is on the verge of tears.