This chapter opens with a splash of wet water dripping from the window of the brothel. The narrator tells us that his grandfather has sent him there to give the incense to the young man. The incense is supposed to help him relax and sleep. The young man asks the narrator to put his thud mask on so that he can use the incense. He tells the narrator that he met with the man and ling in the brothel the night before to cool off the air. ling has asked him to send him some ice to keep him cool in the hot weather. The ice contains saltpeters, which are used to make ice. The man who has been sent to find ling is not there, and the narrator is worried that he is drunk. He wonders why he is still mad at him, but the narrator tells him that the man is the best eater on earth, no matter what he does. He says that even his master praised the man to be a "genius that only a puritan once every century". The narrator compares the man's appearance to that of ling, saying that if ling were still alive, he would be "a flawless person" .