This chapter opens with a soliloquy by the young man, who tells his father that he and his master have returned to the mainland. The young man tells the father that his name means "long and carefree life" and that his parents always wish for the best for their children. However, the father tells him that his mother married him because she was sick and had no one else to rely on. The father tells the man that he gave up so that he could live a life of prosperity in the Qing dynasty. The old man asks if he has anything he wants to tell him, and the old man responds that he does not have anything he needs to tell the father. He says that if the two cannot be honest with one another, they will not be able to sustain their partnership