The narrator tells us that the body of his daughter is found in the middle of a lake. It's a girl named quian-xi'er. She's 14 years old and hasn't even closed her eyes since she was rescued from the water. Everyone thinks she's the ghost of the water ghost. The narrator doesn't know who pushed her into the water, but he's sure that she drowned. The shopkeeper and his wife are shocked to find that their daughter is dressed so plainly. They don't have much money, but they're still not poor. They're not married yet, and the baby is two months premature. The father of the dead girl is furious. He wants to know why the shopkeeper insulted his daughter when she was dead. He demands that the shopkeeper move the body.