Summary

In “Flourishing Beasts,” the narrator described the flourishing beasts who lived in the Temple of Antiquities. They were all females and spent their lives gardening They had six fingers on each hand and dark crescent moons marking their skin. When a flourishing beast died, her tribe cut her body into eight pieces and planted them. From the earth, new flourishing beasts slowly grew, though most of them did not make it to maturity. During their embryonic stage, they could be cut down and beautiful furniture could be made of their bodies.

The narrator was approached by Zhong Liang, who told her that his uncle had read her stories and wanted to meet her. The narrator reluctantly agreed. However, when she met the wealthy jeweler, Zhong Ren, he asked her to marry him and she became frightened. She ran away...