In this chapter, the two young men discuss their plans to go back to school together. Lin tells his friend that he has been his best friend since childhood, and they plan to go to college together. He tells Lin that his father used to play with him when he was a child, and that he used to dig graves every day. He also used to read books for decades. Lin asks if the tree is a magic tree, and Lin says that if it is, it must fulfill his wish. Lin's mother tells her that she has heard about the two of them going to the magic tree. She tells her son that when he grows up, he'll marry Little Lin , and she'll be able to rest in peace. She also tells him that he dressed up in a magical outfit and asked her if he was beautiful when she was small, and now that he's part of the "young pioneer squad" with "radical thoughts," he can't get engaged to her. She says that she's going to help Lin prepare the food for them to eat.