Part 1, Chapter 12 Summary

Manna is eager to know what Lin accomplished at home, but he avoids her for days until she confronts him. He tells her he couldn't bring himself to abandon his wife and small child that summer, and that he has no reason to do so that would satisfy the village court.

When Manna asks him what they are to do, he suggests they break up and not get in any deeper, which infuriates her. She says he has changed her social status at the hospital. Now she will not be able to attract another man and will be shamed if he drops her. Lin is worried but also pleased to think of Manna as bound to him. She will have to live as a spinster without him unless she is transferred to another hospital. A week later, he apologizes for not...