In this chapter, we are introduced to a young woman who has just returned from a trip to the "underground club" in Shanghai. She tells us that she has a strained back at work and that her grandfather has been pushing her around all the time. The young woman tells her grandfather that she used to nurse her grandmother when she had a back injury, and that everyone at work always pushes her around. She also tells the young woman about her experience in the "manchu ria" , which is a slang term for a brothel in the city. She asks the young man if he is the young master of the brothel, and he says that he is. She then tells him that the old man is a "filthy old man" who has been doing dirty things to her. He then asks her if she is her mistress, and she says that she is. The old man then asks if she was her mistress's lover, and the young girl says that it is not her mistress but the man who works for the "phoenix hotel group" . This man is the president of this group, and they all know who he is . She says that the job squeeze was the cause of her back injury and that she was just glad that no one was at fault for it. She adds that if she had not been so lucky, she would have been killed in the accident. The girl then tells the story of her trip to "the underground club" and how she had to rub her legs on a table to warm them up, and how her grandfather always pushed her around when her grandmother had a bad back injury. He also tells her that he used to work for the phoenix group, a hotel chain, and this man is one of the president's employees. She explains that she had become friends with him and that their stories were very interesting to her, and now she wants to tell him more of her story