Spilled Water is a children's novel by Sally Grindley, released in 2004.
Lu Si-yan is living in a village with her mother and younger brother when her uncle takes her to market and sells her to a rich family, who plan to train her as a domestic and have her marry their brain-damaged son. She leaves, only to be taken in by a factory with terrible working conditions and pay, and she struggles to hang on to her identity and life.
This book contains examples of:
- A Birthday, Not a Break: Lu Si-yan's twelfth birthday starts off with her changing jobs from sewing teddy bear's ears on to being a runner in a different part of the factory. She also has to avoid being groped by one of the male workers. Her friend Song Shuru even lampshades this trope:"What a way to spend your twelfth birthday."
- Bad Boss: Both the Chens and the Wangs are this to Lu Si-yan, expecting too much of her. In fact, the Wangs illegally force their workers to do overtime and despite not asking Lu Si-yan her age (eleven), they hire her on the spot.
- Bittersweet Ending: Lu Si-yan is finally going home and Li Mei is coming part of the way with her, also going home, and they will finally be with their family, but Lu Si-yan has still lost her parents and she hasn't forgiven her uncle.
- Break the Cutie: Lu Si-yan is sold, forced to work as a domestic, is progressively given more work, runs away and ends up working in a factory, gets bullied by a girl whose boyfriend becomes interested in her, is moved to a more demanding job, gets seriously ill, then finds out her mother is dead.
- Coming of Age Story: Definitely one for Lu Si-yan. The story takes place over ten months, and as she says near the end, she has changed a lot since the start.
- Cool Big Sis: Lu Si-yan would like to be this to her little brother.
- Though not related, Lu Si-yan's friends at the factory take on this role, particularly Li Mei. They tell her what to do during work and look out for her on their day off when an older boy takes an interest in her.
- Cool Old Lady: Mrs Hong is much kinder than the rest of the Chens. She comments positively on Lu Si-yan singing as she dusts, then after being read to, she races out of her room in her wheelchair and declares that she is going to help Lu Si-yan finish dusting.
- Cordon Bleugh Chef: Lu Si-yan finds it amusing that a family who had better food than hers ever did aren't going to eat so well when she prepares the food. Afterwards which she slices through her finger.
- Dangerous Workplace: Definitely the Wangs' factory. Lu Si-yan becomes ill from all the fumes in the air and even starts coughing up blood. Li Mei remarks that the Wangs will have a hard time if someone notices that their practices include hiring a twelve-year-old who ended up with a life threatening illness.
- Evil Uncle: Uncle Ba doesn't mean to be evil, but his bitterness at having to raise his brother and, after his brother's death, having to look out for his sister-in-law, niece and nephew has made his actions appear evil. Lu Si-yan suffers from this most, as the daughter of the family and the most expendable, which is why he sells her. When he returns at the end of the novel to take Lu Si-yan home, he has regretted his actions, and despite Li Mei's attempts to talk her around, Si-yan only goes with him for her brother's sake.
- Five-Man Band: The factory girls who befriend Lu Si-yan:
- The Leader: Li Mei, who's kind, gentle and wise and acts as the Team Mom.
- The Lancer: Quiet Shen Equing and Song Shuru switch between this and The Smart Guy.
- The Big Guy: Dong Ying, the strong and easily angered member of the group.
- The Smart Guy: Song Shuru and Shen Equing switch between this and The Lancer.
- The Heart: Lu Si-yan, as the youngest, most innocent and needs the most protection.
- Full-Name Basis: This appears to be the custom outside of families. Lu Si-yan is referred to by her full name by her friends and employers, but her family addresses her as just "Si-yan", her first name.
- Innocence Lost: Lu Si-yan is definitely more streetwise and less idealistic by the end of the story.
- Nice Girl: Li Mei. One girl even makes fun of her for trying to keep the peace.
- Promotion to Parent: Lu Si-yan tries to fill in for her father after he dies and looks after Li-hu devotedly. When she comes home, she swears to try and fill in for their parents as well as still being his sister.
- Technically a Smile: Mrs Chen tries to make herself seem agreeable by smiling. Lu Si-yan isn't fooled.
- Wide-Eyed Idealist: Lu Si-yan starts out as this. This tends to turn her into a victim. Li Mei [[Lampshades]] this when the Wangs won't pay her for her first week at work because she is technically in training."They're just taking advantage of you because of your age."
