The scene opens with a soliloquy by Lin-Fan. He tells her that she is a "wanton woman" who will follow anyone who offers her a "decent offer" . He asks her to apologize for publicly denying their relationship and for not looking for him for two years. He says that he is a person who "ever cared about etiquette" and wonders why she thinks she is hopeless. He adds that he has only one thought in his mind: to work as hard as he can until the day when he no longer needs to make money. If she is still there, he says, they can live their lives like "ordinary" people. He explains that he was scared of "jeopardizing my future" and that the first thing he thought of was "abandoning" her. He is also selfish, he explains, because he is constantly tormented by the fact that she has been flirting with other men. He wants to bring her back to his side.