When the narrator arrives at the house of Gu zhen, he is greeted by his mother, who tells him that the family has to pay a dowry of 30,000 yuan for their daughter's hand-in- marriage. He is shocked to learn that his daughter has slept with a random man, and that his family has committed adultery. The narrator is saddened by the family's shameful behavior, and he curses the family for having a daughter who cannot have children and who has even adopted a "shameful whore"