Born into betrayal and rejection, a young Chinese-American woman known only as Four uncovers the painful truth behind her identity and seeks justice for her mother’s past — even if it means spilling blood to those who condemned her to a dark legacy.

SYNOPSIS:

Narrated by the titled character, Four is the daughter of a Chinese woman named Lin-Lin who

married a widowed doctor named Xing, through an agreement by their parents. Less than a year of

marriage, Lin-Lin is brought to the United States to help take care of Xing’s kids as their new mother.

However, Xing purposely separates himself from Lin-Lin’s presence, ignores Lin-Lin, and devalues

her by comparing her to his deceased wife. She visits Xing at his hospital only to see him be

intimately friendly with another woman and becomes distressed. Lin-Lin is approached by the

hospital lawyer and Xing’s friends, Biao, who takes advantage of her vulnerability. Lin-Lin pours out

her feelings to Biao about the neglect and resentment from Xing at his house and in the presence of

his three children. After listening to Lin-Lin’s story Biao gets very close to her, and they start an

affair. Later, Lin-Lin became pregnant with Four. Lin-Lin visited Biao’s house for the first time and

saw that he has a family of his own with a wife and three children.

Lin-Lin told him the news and he tried to convince her to get rid of the baby, but Lin-Lin refused and

says this was her first child to have with someone. Biao told her that if she kept the baby, it would

ruin his family and adding a fourth child would be a bad omen referencing the old Chinese

superstition. Lin-Lin returns to Xing’s house and Xing found the pregnancy test. Lin-Lin confesses

everything to him and he confesses to her that he married her out of obligation and never for love.

Like Biao, Xing forces her out of the house to have Lin-Lin living on her own alone.

Lin-Lin befriends a couple, Uncle Tsong and Aunty who owned a Chinese novelty shop, help Lin-Lin

through her struggles by giving her a job at their shop. After having her daughter Four, Lin-Lin builds

a life while taking care of her daughter. As Four becomes an older teenager, Lin-Lin begins to see

herself in Four which leads Lin-Lin to become overprotective and progressively isolates Four from

other kids her age. Four sees the changes in her mother and becomes reclusive towards Lin-Lin that

leads Four to sneak around and lie to her mother. Four secretly has a relationship with a classmate,

Robert and goes on a first date in public. However, their date is interrupted by Lin-Lin and she yells

at both of them like a mad woman. Rob leaves alone in the crowd and Four returns home with Lin

Lin. They have an argument and Lin-Lin tries to convince not the see Rob that men are horrible and

will break her heart. Four ask about her father to Lin-Lin but Lin-Lin refrains from answering and has

an emotional breakdown. Four walks out saying to Lin-Lin that after the school year she will leave

and tell Lin-Lin she will live alone until she dies.

Four goes to Uncle Tsong’s shop and greets Four happily. Four talks about the fight with Lin-Lin and

he gives Four morale advice and mends her relationship with her mother. During this conversation

she saw an ivory carved dagger with a snake head handle she has admired laying in a display case.

When Four walks out of the shop she sees Robert walking with another girl, Natalie. Four confronts

both of them with shock and anger. Robert tells Four that she was a fling for him while he was

seeing Natalie. He waited for so long to sex with Four but Rob criticizes Lin-Lin and breaks the

relationship. Four returned home, sobbing, and looked through the apartment. She saw Lin-Lin

laying on the bed motionless. Four noticed her mom’s phone from the side of the bed, grabbed it,

and unlocked it to the video screen. Four watched a video message with Lin-Lin talking about her

past of Xing and Biao and their fallacy about her bringing Four into the world and leaving Lin-Lin

alone and traumatized. Lin-Lin used her trauma as an excuse in shielding Four from others. Lin-Lin

accepted that her fear would push Four away and die alone for the rest of her years. Lin-Lin decides

to end her life by overdosing on prescription medicine. Four blacks out and has a vision of her

mother. Lin-Lin explains that she never meant to keep her secrets from her daughter and felt

shameful towards herself and her family if she were to tell people she was pregnant out of wedlock.

She was a woman in a new world and had no one to trust. Lin-Lin thinks of herself as a bad mother

and asks for forgiveness from her daughter. Four reconciles with her mother and wakes up from the

dream.

Four returns to Uncle Tsong’s place and he puts her up in a spare room of the apartment above the

store. After Uncle Tsong comforts her and leaves the room, she sees a notification on her phone

about Robert with Natalie at a party. Four becomes upset and then receives an epiphany. She walks

down to the store with the store keys she took from Uncle Tsong’s apartment and pulls the ivory

dagger from the display case. She stares at the blade and an image of her mother was seen in the

reflection of the blade. All their anger, strife, and grievances come out and Four goes after Robert

sneaking into Robert’s house before he returned home. When he arrived back at the house with

Natalie, they both start making out and go up to his room to have sex. However, as Natalie was

preparing herself in another room Four takes the opportunity to surprise Robert and kills him with the

dagger. Four hides from sight while Natalie sees Robert’s dead body and runs out of the house.

Four leaves Robert’s house with feeling any emotion for her actions.

Afterwards, Four goes back to school like nothing happened, then later she returns to Uncle’s store.

A detective comes and questions Four about Robert. When asking for an alibi, Uncle Tsong lies to

the detective to protect Four, she is grateful and wishes Uncle Tsong was her father. Four lives with

Uncle Tsong for some time and uses that time to research Xing and Biao. After a few years, Uncle

Tsong tells Four he is retiring and selling the shop to a new owner. Four accepts the inevitable and

she goes after Biao and Xing becoming the symbol they have feared at the beginning. Four goes

after Xing first, able to sneak into his home and abruptly attacks him. Four tells her story and she is

seeking justice for Lin-Lin. Xing confessed how he wronged Lin-Lin and it was a mistake that he

treated her badly. After hearing his confession she uncontrollably stabs Xing. Later Four confronts

Biao by tasering him and bind him to a chair. Telling the same story and claiming she is his

daughter, Biao gloats at his actions towards Lin-Lin and tells Four that her mother should have

gotten rid of her as he told Lin-Lin. Four executes becomes enraged and uses the dagger she used

on Robert. She tortures Biao, he begs for forgiveness, and asks her to be part of the family she

deserved to have. Four recognizes his false empty words and slits his throat ending his life. In the

end she returns to her car and like her mother, she will live on alone in the world.

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