This is where the great Hwang family dwells, and Wang Lung initially goes into the house to get O-lan who has been a slave in the family. Later, Wang Lung, as a man of fortune and land, rents the house to live there with his own family. O-lan was sold to the great house as a child, and thus, her mother did not have the time to bind her feet. Later, O-lan insists on tightly binding the feet of their second daughter so that she may have small feet. The girl cries every night because of the pain.
Lotus has small feet that have been bound.
Wang Lung dyes eggs in red dye to distribute to other villagers in honor of the birth of his first male child. Later, Wang Lung's son does the same when his first son is born. The ox has been Wang Lung's field companion for many years, but must be killed during the famine to provide food for the family. Wang Lung and his family pay to board a train, a firewagon, to travel south during the famine. In the southern city, there are public kitchens where poor people pay a small fee to fill their bellies with white rice.