Part 2, Chapter 7 Summary

That spring, Lin contracts tuberculosis and is quarantined for treatment. Weak, coughing, and underweight, he is so ill he cannot go home for his leave that summer. Shuyu cannot read, so he writes her brother, Bensheng, telling him he is too busy to return. He does not want Shuyu to know he is sick because he knows she will worry. Manna visits Lin faithfully, although she is unhappy he will not be going home that summer to press again for a divorce.

Lin, still in the hospital, gets a new roommate, a tuberculosis patient whose reputation as a strong, unyielding officer is the subject of much discussion. Lin mentions the man, who he admires, to Manna. His name is Geng Yang, and Manna remembers meeting him the previous year, when he was working with Commissar Wei. Lin urges her to go...