The narrator introduces us to a young man named xiangwang, who is in love with his lady-in-waiting, a girl named yianqiang. The narrator tells us that the girl is named jianzhong, and that she is the daughter of a wealthy gong family. She is the granddaughter of the founder of the family, and she is trying to get a piece of land to help her family. . The young man tells the narrator that he knows the place very well and that he will never let the girl get her way. He tells the story of how he and his mother used to live in the same neighborhood, but then everything changed. Everyone admires him for his high place, but he is an illegitimate child. He explains that his mother went crazy when she found out that he was still alive and that his father was the one who made her go to hell. She tells the young man that if he were dead, they would all be free.