After his mother died when he was only five years old, the narrator returns to the house where he has been living with his father. His mother's housekeeper has been there for a long time, and the daughter of the housekeeper has moved into the house with the narrator's father. The tenants do not pay their rent on time, so the narrator plans to kick them out of the house. His father welcomes him home, and he tells him that he has an older brother, who has been ill and bedridden for years. The older brother's wife, an angel-like woman, has taken care of the older brother. The young master and his wife are also in the house, and they are both wearing their nipples on their shirts. The narrator notices that the young master has lost track of his wife and wonders where she is going. He notices that she often goes out at night, and wonders if he has lost her. He wonders if she is a woman in need, and asks if he can pretend that he did not see her there. She asks him to pretend that she did not come to his room at that time of night.