Part III: Chapter 17, Rehabilitation Summary and Analysis

Cheng waited for years for Mao to die. With his death, she has the hope that she will be able to petition for a visa to leave the country. She learns she will have to be in a parade with the Residents' Committee in a celebration against Jiang Qing, the wife of Mao who had always wanted all his power.

A man from the Public Security Bureau comes to visit Cheng in March of 1978. He rebukes her for sending so many petitions to inquire about Meiping's death. He asks her to stop writing so many petitions as the government is trying to get through the hundreds of thousands of cases of mysterious deaths during the time of Mao. Although he doesn't give her any information, she is reassured by the visits in knowing that her...