Chapters 4-6 Summary

These three chapters develop the characters of three important figures: Ming-feng, Chin, and Chueh-hsin. In Chapter 4, Ming-feng is getting ready for bed in the servants' quarters of the house. The older servants are already asleep, but Ming-feng tries to enjoy the few moments at night when no one is giving her orders or scolding her. She thinks about the seven years she has spent at this home. Ming-feng was eleven-years-old when her mother died and her father sent her to be a servant for this wealthy family. She can't believe that so much time has flown by since that time. Nothing extraordinary has happened. This sets her to worrying that nothing exciting will ever happen to her. She will end up working for others her entire life and never have a real home of her own. She cries herself to sleep...