In the last third of the book, Wang Lung experiences a succession of joys and sorrows in his family relationships and in his farming. Seasons of good harvests are punctuated by occasional bad years, due to a heavy flood, a severe winter freeze, and a scourge of locusts. Yet on the whole Wang Lung continues to prosper. His wealth, however, also brings a series of discontents. He eventually renders the uncle and his wife harmless by making them addicted to opium.
Family affairs continue to have ups and downs.
O-lan's sickness finally overpowers her, and Wang Lung's tender solicitousness to her on her deathbed cannot fully compensate for the insults she received when Lotus moved into the house. She is content to die only after her first son's marriage is consummated, so she can expect a grandson. Wang Lung's father dies immediately after O-lan, and the faithful steward Ching is buried next. As Wang Lung ages, he rents out his farm land to tenants. His eldest son persuades him to buy the old estate of the House of Hwang in town, both as a means of moving out from the place where the disgraceful uncle and his wife live, and as a symbol of Wang Lung's elevated social position.