Summary

Chapter 7, Year of the Rat – It is New Year’s Eve. Wang considers the story of She-Brat, and imagines it must be plagiarized. At home, Yida cleans out the apartment in the superstitious custom of cleansing the house of last year’s dust. After fireworks, Wang and his family go to bed, but he cannot fall asleep.

Chapter 8, The Wedding Photo – Wang contemplates a photo of his father and mother on their wedding day, May 3, 1975. He remembers what he can about his biological mother, Shuxiang, including that she was very good at reading people, that she did not like people, was agoraphobic, smoked a lot of cigarettes, and drank all the time. He remembers his father being intimidating, a rising star in the Department of Agriculture, and disliked any emotion shared between mother and son. Over time, Wang remembers, Shuxiang’s agoraphobia faded, and...