This chapter opens with a description of the backstage of the theater where the cast is changing. The lead actor, laojiu, has been bitten by a dog, so he instructs his assistant, zhao ba, to watch the scene. When he looks at the box, he finds a piece of dog poop and twigs. The dog, out of fear, jumps out of the box. The coach, jing, and the two young actors, xi gui and xi fu, are all in love with each other, and jing wants to marry them. He wants to make sure that the wedding takes place as quickly as possible. He also wants to find a good girl to marry xi . He decides to ask a matchmaker to scout for the girl, but he doesn't want xi to lose his job because of the wedding. He doesn' t want to upset the other actors, but at the same time, he wants to protect xi's career.