The chapter opens with the arrival of the family of the wealthy uncle of the young girl. The young girl, who has been living with her grandmother in the city, tells her uncle that she does not want to return to her family's former home in the province of Jiangzhou, where her father has squandered the family fortune. She also tells him that she wants to find a husband for her, but she is afraid that she will not be able to match up with the regent of the city. The regent, she says, is "unfeeling, fierce, and strict," but she wants a husband who will be close to women. The uncle tells her that the family will settle down in a "clean and spacious" room, and that he will arrange for a feast for the family.