This chapter opens with a soliloquy by the protagonist, who says that his life is miserable and that he has raised his son just to keep him safe. He thinks that the heavens are trying to ruin the family. He tells his sister, sheng, that his son is just a child and that it is a waste to beat him like this. . She tells him that they should have never brought him back to the family, but she didn't think it would be so bad. She asks him if he knows she's in the wrong, and he says that he does, and she apologizes for beating him like that. He asks her if she is remorseful and she says that she is. She says that her family contributes to the world like monsters, but that they shouldn't do the same thing in other aspects of life. She wants to know if they