Chapter 5 Summary and Analysis

De-hong's family has moved inside the walls of the city in an effort to be more protected from the looting of the military, and they share a house with Yu-Wu, who poses as a member of the Kuomintang military but is actually a Communist. De-hong asks to be part of the movement but he says she's too young. A short time later, she begins distributing Communist literature.

The economic situation is so bad that the family has no savings and Dr. Xia, now nearly eighty, is worried about what will happen when he dies. Extortion is rampant, food is scarce, and the money that does exist has almost no value.

De-hong becomes friendly with a Kuomintang general, Hui-ge. Using his military freedom, they travel outside the walled city occasionally and De-hong leaves messages for her Communist counterparts. She later travels with...