Little Bear is fifteen years old. His family is very poor and cannot afford the expense of keeping in school, so they send him off to learn a trade with a local Master Tailor, Mr. Pang.

He begins his tutelage with 3 other boys. Xiao Wu is the oldest; Little Bear is the youngest.

For the first six months, Little Bear is not allowed to sew, but he watches the tailors working when he can. Every day he sweeps the floors, runs errands, and serves his Master at the dinner table.

"Little Bear, I'm out of cigarettes!" He is often sent to the tobacco shop for Master Pang.

After quitting time for everyone else, he and the other boys must clean and oil the sewing machines. Yards and yards of thread have become wound in the wheel by the foot pedal and must be untangled and cut free.

Half a year passes and Master Pang begins to teach the boys how to use a needle. For sixteen hours a day, Little Bear stitches lapels. He's not very good at it at first; he doesn't know how much pressure to use, so he pricks his index finger countless times until it becomes swollen and red. Over time the skin on his finger grows thick and calloused, but eventually he has perfected the skill and no longer pricks his finger or makes mistakes.

Each day after the Master and tailors finish work and leave to go home, Little Bear and Xiao Wu sneak into the kitchen in search of leftovers from dinner to fill their bellies.

Finally, when all is quiet in the shop, he pulls his blanket out from under the Master's work table, unrolls it to make his bed, and lies down for the night.

Every month, the boys get one day off of work to spend as they wish. Little Bear spends his month's stipend to buy toothpaste and soap and heads down to the public bathhouse for a good, long, and much-needed scrub.

He meets Xiao Wu and the other boys at the local noodle stand where they feast like kings on beef noodle soup. If there's enough money left from the day, he might even have an egg in it.

For three years, Little Bear works hard for Master Pang. Each day his craft improves. Sewing and cutting, stitching and hemming, sweeping and oiling.

It takes the full three years to perfect the skills required to be a tailor. At the end of that time, his obligation to Master Pang is complete, but tradition dictates that he continue to work an additional four months for free as a way of showing his gratitude to the Master.

Finally his tutelage is complete. He is far from being a Master himself, but his apprenticeship is concluded. For graduation, Master Pang gives Little Bear a pair of scissors and a ruler and sends him on his way to find work.

He is eighteen years old now. For the first time in his life, Little Bear is on his own. It is daunting, but he armed with the skills and tools to make his own way in the world.

He pounds the pavement in search of work in a tailor shop. He presents himself proudly at all of the most famous tailors in town.

"I have studied with Master Pang. I have my tools and am ready to start work."

"Ah, Master Pang is a fine tailor," is the reply, "but you are still green, and we have all the tailors we need at the moment. Come back after you've a few more years experience." He is somewhat crestfallen but will not give up.

Having graduated the previous year, Xiao Wu has already found work and introduces Little Bear to his employer, Master Chang.

He works with Master Chang for several years returning occasionally to eh more prestigious establishments in hopes of higher pay and the prospect of working for a famous tailor.

Each day, his skills grow stronger. Each night he dreams of opening his own shop and hopes that one day become a Master himself.