Ye also wrote the teleplay of a highly successful TV adaptation Sinful Debt (1995), which shattered ratings record in Shanghai.

In 1998, Ian Chapman also translated an excerpt (Chapter 2, Part 4) to English on the magazine Renditions, under the title The Wages of Sin.

[3] The novel is based on true stories of abandoned children going to cities searching for their birth parents, and Ye Xin created believable situations that most highlighted the melodrama and tragedy associated with such reunions.

The narrative not only contrasted the 2 generations, but also illustrated the differences between Shanghai and Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture — one densely populated, industrialized coastal metropolis, and one heavily forested rural town on the border with Myanmar, settled mostly by non-Chinese people.

Just like their parents more than 20 years ago, the teens began the long journey with optimistic yearnings, only to "discover heartbreak, disillusionment, and tragedy".