It was during the war that Winnie met Jimmy Louie, Pearl's father; He was a good husband, a good father, and a minister in the Chinese Baptist Church, but he died when Pearl was a teenager, a time when Pearl became very angry. Winnie explains to Pearl that she met Jimmy Louie in China, at an American military dance. The two fell in love and he began to help escape her abusive marriage. In order to gain a divorce, the paper has to be signed by two witnesses and Grand Auntie Du and Helen agreed to sign. Wen-Fu had previously ripped up the papers from her first attempt, and Winnie went to him again to get the papers signed. At this second meeting Wen Fu raped her. Winnie explains that she has always tried to love Pearl more because she thought she might have been Wen-Fu's daughter.