This chapter begins with a description of the jade gourd, which is believed to be a magical item. The starting bid for the gourd will be 500,000 silver taels with an increase in taels of 10,000 taels every time. The narrator tells the audience that the starting price for this item will be a whopping 1 million taels. This is a lot of money for a piece of trash, and the narrator is sure that the thieves are trying to cheat them. The fei of the sect asks the lad why he is bidding so high. The lad says that he is just interested in the item, and if the highest bidder wants it, he should state a higher price. The master fei tells the lad that it is all his fault for causing the young master to buy such an expensive item. He tells him that he brought him to the market place to buy the item of his own accord, and that he will make him a steward someday. The li family, the narrator says, would never allow an outsider to control its enterprises. The young master is the guest of the family, and he asks the fei to give him the item.