Into the Mountains Summary

After the typhoid epidemic, Lily hears from Snow Flower that she lost her third daughter. She wants Lily to come before they begin binding their daughters' feet. Lily is now free to see Snow Flower with her mother-in-law gone and does special favors for her husband to get his approval.

Lily visits Snow Flower's house and sees and smells the pig slaughters. The two agree to wait, like their mothers did, until their girls are seven to bind their feet. Snow Flower's husband will not allow them to sleep together, and the sounds of Snow Flower's lovemaking are offensive to Lily. The next day the two bathe together, and Lily notices Snow Flower's roughened and worn skin.

The second night of her visit , a battle between government troops and the Taipings moved into the village, and the family is...