He Zhiwu, Cop 223 Quotes in Chungking Express (1994)

He Zhiwu, Cop 223: If memories could be canned, would they also have expiry dates? If so, I hope they last for centuries.

He Zhiwu, Cop 223: We're all unlucky in love sometimes. When I am, I go jogging. The body loses water when you jog, so you have none left for tears.

He Zhiwu, Cop 223: Do you... like pineapple?

He Zhiwu, Cop 223: Any canned pineapple that expires on May 1?

Cashier: You know what day it is today?

He Zhiwu, Cop 223: April 30?

Cashier: Right. You think we sell outdated stock?

He Zhiwu, Cop 223: There's still two hours to go.

Cashier: Nobody would buy it. Get a fresh one.

He Zhiwu, Cop 223: People like you are hung up on freshness. You realize what goes into a can of pineapple? The fruit must be grown, harvested, sliced, and you just throw it away! How do you think the can feels about that?

Cashier: Buddy, I only work here. Who cares about how the cans feel? What about how I feel? Loading, more loading, unloading... How I wish cans wouldn't expire! It'd save me loads of work. You like expired cans? Help yourself! As many as you like! On the house!

[223 leaves the store]

He Zhiwu, Cop 223: Somehow everything comes with an expiry date. Swordfish expires. Meat sauce expires. Even cling-film expires. Is there anything in the world which doesn't?

[223 gives a can of pineapple to a passing street person. The street person looks at the can and throws it on the ground]

Street person: It's expired. Don't want it.

He Zhiwu, Cop 223: You sure?

[223 phones some potential dates]

He Zhiwu, Cop 223: Lulu? This is Qiwu. Want to come out for a drink? You're in bed already? This early? You were asleep? Never mind. Bye.

[He phones another]

He Zhiwu, Cop 223: Chieko-san? Guess who? This is Qiwu. That's right. Want to come out for a drink? Your husband? When did you get married? Five years! Has it been that long? You have two kids! You're happy, that's great! Okay, never mind.

[He phones another]

He Zhiwu, Cop 223: Is Kong Siu-wai there? This is He Qiwu. We were classmates in grade four. You don't remember? Nothing, goodbye.

He Zhiwu, Cop 223: At the high point of our intimacy, we were just 0.01cm from each other. I knew nothing about her. Six hours later, she fell in love with another man.

He Zhiwu, Cop 223: In May's eyes, I'm no different from a can of pineapple.

He Zhiwu, Cop 223: We split up on April Fool's Day. So I decided to let the joke run for a month. Every day I buy a can of pineapple with a sell-by date of May 1. May loves pineapple, and May 1 is my birthday. If May hasn't changed her mind by the time I've bought thirty cans, then our love will also expire.