This chapter opens with a description of the events that have taken place in the past few days. We are introduced to the protagonist, a young boy who has been living with his mother in Shanghai. His mother hates him because he is not a boy, and he has been asked to know himself by his stepfather, feiyuan. . The protagonist explains that his mother does not approve of him, and that his stepfather has asked him to be a boy in order to please his mother. He tells his mother that he has not asked for a favor from his mother, but that he does not want to be snubbed. He asks his mother to let go of his younger