Chapter 11 Summary and Analysis

De-hong remains "on parole", checking in every evening, but is given the job of overseeing the nationalization of food factories, bakeries, and restaurants in her district. Yu-Fang was caught up in the sale of Dr. Xia's medicine shop to the nationalist movement and wasn't able to return to Chengdu until De-hong had been exonerated. She immediately removed the four children from the nursery. Er-hong and her sister are still taken to the nursery during the day, but Er-hong "falls ill" regularly until the practice is stopped. By 1956, the population of Chengdu had risen to seventy-two million. Because Yu-Fang could not handle all four children, Jun-ying moved in and a maid soon joined the household. Then both parents moved into the same house.

The party demands and suspicions of many people who have done and said nothing are grating on De-hong. In...