Chapter Summaries

Xubai interrogated Liu Xiaobo about Su Yuhe and learned that she had been close to the hunter Li Yun before three city men arrived. Liu Xiaobo’s account left Xubai questioning Su Yuhe’s romantic ties and the men’s place in her household.

• Xubai kicked Liu Xiaobo away, then demanded that he explain his claim that Su Yuhe had a lover.
• Liu Xiaobo said Su Yuhe had been involved with his neighbor Li Yun for two years and had promised to marry him.
• Liu Xiaobo described how Li Yun had helped Su Yuhe with money and household chores, and said he had brought her a hunted wild boar.
• Liu Xiaobo revealed that one of the three city men collected money for the boar meat and that Su Yuhe was their wife.
• Xubai mocked Su Yuhe’s supposed romantic fortune and asked Liu Xiaobo whether he agreed; Liu Xiaobo denied it and said she did not seem able to afford several husbands.

Lu Mingyi, Lu Mingxi, and Meng Zhixian wondered who had sent people to ask about them, while Su Yuhe suspected Xubai was behind it and feared he would discover her feelings for Li Yun. After days of anxious waiting, Su Yuhe finished copying two books and collected her payment from Shopkeeper Liu.

• Meng Zhixian suggested that the people asking about them might know Lu Mingyi and Lu Mingxi, and Lu Mingyi wondered whether his parents' former retainers had come looking for them.
• Lu Mingyi told Lu Mingxi not to bring up their past again and to treat them as government slaves living in the countryside.
• Su Yuhe suspected Xubai had sent someone to find her, then persuaded Li Yun to go home before he told her he would soon return to the mountains and asked her to water his plot.
• Su Yuhe waited anxiously for several days, then finished copying both books and took them to town.
• Shopkeeper Liu paid Su Yuhe seven taels for the books, and she took all four stationery boxes back with her.

Su Yuhe spent her new earnings on cloth and treated Lu Mingxi to wontons and candied hawthorns instead of buying roast chicken. Lu Mingxi struggled to accept the small treat, and the chapter ended with Su Yuhe persuading him to eat the meatball she had ordered for him.

• Su Yuhe collected four taels from Shopkeeper Liu and took Lu Mingxi to buy moon-white and black cloth.
• Su Yuhe passed up lotus-root-white cloth and roast chicken, choosing a cheap wonton stall for brunch.
• Lu Mingxi stared at the candied hawthorns, but he protested when Su Yuhe bought him a skewer.
• Lu Mingxi said the skewer could have bought several cabbages, revealing how carefully he valued money.
• Su Yuhe urged Lu Mingxi to eat the lion's head meatball she had ordered for him, and he finally left it in his own bowl.

Two women tried to recruit Lu Mingxi to entertain Xubai for money, but Su Yuhe refused and took him home. Yongqin discussed Su Yuhe with Xubai, then Lu Mingyi and Meng Zhixian argued over the cost of bathing.

• Two guards invited Lu Mingxi to meet their young master, offering him wages, but Su Yuhe refused and led him away.
• Yongqin watched Su Yuhe protect Lu Mingxi and told Xubai she planned to meet Su Yuhe after handling her affairs.
• Xubai asked Yongqin to stop suggesting he take other wives and said he wanted to return to the estate.
• That night, Meng Zhixian complained that Lu Mingyi was taking too long to bathe and challenged him to contribute money to the household.

Meng Zhixian confronted Lu Mingxi about making him wait to bathe, then sought Su Yuhe’s attention and asked to stay with her. Su Yuhe promised to take him into town, and he resolved to keep winning her favor rather than let Lu Mingxi have her to himself.

• Meng Zhixian complained that Lu Mingxi kept delaying his turn to bathe, and Lu Mingxi agreed to bathe last in the future.
• Lu Mingyi noticed that Lu Mingxi had been unusually distracted since their return from town and watched him leave for bed.
• Meng Zhixian joined Su Yuhe in the study, kissed her, and asked to stay there for the night.
• Su Yuhe persuaded Meng Zhixian to go back to bed by promising to take him into town when she finished copying.
• Meng Zhixian asked for candied hawthorns and became unhappy when Su Yuhe offered to buy them for everyone, then resolved to win her heart and keep Lu Mingxi from having her all to himself.

Xubai returned and learned that Su Yuhe had been copying books, which eased his suspicions about her. He summoned her, but his excitement turned to anger while she hesitated outside his door, and he confronted her about having a new love.

• Zhuxin greeted Xubai after he returned and noticed his anger.
• Zhuxin showed Xubai four books Su Yuhe had copied, and Xubai decided to invite her over.
• Xubai ordered Zhuxin to prepare a meal and bring back the three slaves, then dressed in bright red to meet Su Yuhe.
• Xubai made Su Yuhe wait downstairs before Zhuxin escorted her to his room.
• Xubai watched Su Yuhe hesitate outside the door, grew angry, and pulled her inside, accusing her of having a new love.

Su Yuhe and Xubai reunited after his return, and he refused to let her end their relationship. He left her seated at his table, drinking chicken soup and enduring his efforts to feed her nourishing food.

• Xubai confronted Su Yuhe about saying they could not continue their entanglement, and she insisted her low status made their relationship impossible.
• Xubai kissed Su Yuhe hard enough to cut her lip and told her not to say she wanted to leave again.
• Su Yuhe explained that Xubai’s dismissed attendants were helping her at home, but Xubai changed the subject and told her the kitchen had made chicken soup.
• Xubai led Su Yuhe to the table and insisted she drink soup before leaving, then served her food and fed her pork liver.
• Su Yuhe stopped eating by pretending to be angry, and Xubai backed off because she was near her period.

Su Yuhe told Xubai that copying books had become her livelihood and that she was using Zhixian and the others to help her earn money. Xubai accepted her explanation, but still insisted on meeting the three men, leaving Su Yuhe worried he would disrupt their work.

• Su Yuhe tried to leave Xubai so she could return to copying books, but he demanded to know whether her work mattered more than him.
• Xubai warned Su Yuhe not to keep getting tangled up with the three men, and she explained that she had spent the month copying books and choosing meals.
• Su Yuhe told Xubai that she earned one tael per book and had found Zhixian work copying books for half a tael per book.
• Xubai realized the bookshop had reduced the pay he had set and decided he would have someone warn the shop or buy it to provide Su Yuhe with work.
• Su Yuhe explained that Zhixian and the others helped her earn money, pleasing Xubai, who then said he would go meet them.
• Su Yuhe worried that Xubai would interrupt their book copying, but he told her to stop working and stay by his side instead.

Su Yuhe sought money from Xubai, who refused to let her earn it but gave her a box of gold. She returned home after dinner and told Lu Mingxi she had something to discuss with them later.

• Su Yuhe asked Xubai to let her earn money, but he refused and questioned whether she had come only for money.
• Xubai showed Su Yuhe a heavy box of gold, and she happily accepted it after promising not to give any away.
• Su Yuhe stayed to eat chicken soup with Xubai, then returned home after dusk with the untouched food.
• Lu Mingyi met Su Yuhe at the gate and carried the food to the kitchen while she told Lu Mingxi she had something to discuss later.

Su Yuhe told Lu Mingyi, Lu Mingxi, and Meng Zhixian that she had found them jobs at Xubai’s farm estate, then brought them there the next morning. After Su Yuhe asked Xubai to give Lu Mingxi lighter work, Xubai noticed that Meng Zhixian seemed intent on using his looks to win women over.

• Su Yuhe told the three men she had found them jobs, and they reluctantly agreed to follow her arrangements.
• The next morning, Su Yuhe led the men to the farm estate and asked Zhuxin whether Lu Mingxi could be given lighter duties.
• Su Yuhe went upstairs to ask Xubai to spare Lu Mingxi strenuous work, and Xubai looked down at the men in the courtyard.
• Xubai focused on Meng Zhixian’s carefully groomed hair and suspected that he was a foxy seducer who relied on his looks.