Chapter 15 Summary

Yu-sung and Pei had always experienced a distant relationship. Yu-sung loved her daughter fiercely, but they had lived in the awkward silences imposed by Pao. Not wanting to cause further upset, Yu-sung had not been demonstrative with her daughters. She knew Pei craved love, affection, and conversation, but Yu-sung thought it best to not encourage those characteristics in her daughter. Instead she loved her from a distance and strove to teach Pei her place in society. When times were tough and they could no longer support themselves, Pei was sent to work at the silk factory. It wasn't being sold, exactly, but Pei had no choice in the matter. Daughters were usually lost to death or marriage. Pei was lost to neither of those traditional routes, and this brought her parents much guilt. As Yu-sung's health deteriorated, she wondered whether or not she...