Linghua's health continues to fail, and he is unable to communicate with his father, who has scolded him for his behavior. He is now able to talk to people, but he is still unable to understand his father's language. He tells his father that he has come to see him, and that he will visit him when he regains his health. He asks his father to marry him, but his father refuses, saying that he is an outsider and cannot marry a foreigner. He says that if he were to marry her, she would be better off marrying her cousin's daughter, who is also an outsider.