From this chapter to Chapter 15, the author focuses mostly on the hostess of the Jung Mansion—Wang Hsi-feng (Phoenix).
In Chapter 7, Aunt Hsueh and Mrs. Chou go on an errand to deliver twelve sprays of gauze flowers to the girls in the Jung Mansion. Here, Tai-yu's overly sensitive character is revealed when she bitterly remarks that everyone else had their pick of the flowers before she did: "I might have known . . . I wouldn't get mine till the others had taken their pick."
Invited by Madame Yu (Chia Chen's wife) and Chin Ko-ching (Chia Jung's wife), Hsi-feng goes to the Ning Mansion to visit them, accompanied by Pao-yu, who insists on going with her. While they are visiting, one of the girl's lithe and handsome brothers, Chin Chung, arrives. Both Hsi-feng and Pao-yu are struck by Chin Chung's civilized, pleasing manner. Instantly, Pao-yu feels ashamed of himself. He regrets being born into a noble family; he wishes that he were the son of a poor scholar; that way, he would have met Chin Chung long ago. Clearly, Pao-yu despises the fact that "nobility" and "wealth" create social barriers; however, despite the fact that Chin Chung comes from an impoverished family, Pao-yu responds to him immediately. The two boys become best friends and decide to go to school together.
Later, it is necessary for someone to see Chin Chung home, and Chiao Ta is chosen for the task. Chiao Ta is furious that he must do such menial labor; he thinks that because he saved the master's great-grandfather's life several times in the past, such errands are beneath him.
He curses full blast, especially at Chia Jung and Chia Chen, as though they were descendants of a houseful of rutting dogs and bitches in heat, "day in and day out, scratching in the ashes." (Here, the author is saying, figuratively, that there is an illegal and immoral relationship taking place between Chia Chen and his daughter-in-law, Chin Ko-ching.) Chiao Ta's curse clearly reflects the rottenness of the feudal rulers' lives.
In Chapter 8, Pao-yu goes to visit Pao-chai (Precious Virtue) to ask if she's feeling better, and Pao-chai takes the opportunity to examine Pao-yu's Precious Jade of Spiritual Understanding, on which is inscribed: "Never Lose, Never Forget, Eternal Life, Lasting Prosperity." Afterward, Pao-yu insists on looking at Pao-chai's golden locket, on which eight characters are inscribed: "Never Leave, Never Abandon, Fresh Youth, Eternally Lasting." The two lines on Pao-yu's piece of jade match the eight characters on Pao-chai's golden locket. In other words, according to the feudalistic concept of marriage, these two young people are destined to marry. In addition, the author also uses them as a symbol of feudal fatalism.
As Pao-yu and Pao-chai are exchanging views about the piece of jade and the golden locket, Tai-yu (Black Jade) arrives to see Pao-chai. The delicate, strained relationship between the three young people begins to develop here. The different characters and personalities of these three characters are described so carefully in this tense scene that the reader can visualize their presence. Without a doubt, Pao-yu's affection for Tai-yu, and Tai-yu's love for Pao-yu have begun developing because of a mutual affinity and love for one another.
In Chapter 9, Pao-yu and his good friend Chin Chung leave to study at the Chia family clan school, accompanied by Pao-yu's servant Li Kuei Nanny Li's son) and several other servants. Pao-yu's father, Chia Cheng, asks Li Kuei to give his compliments to the principal and requests that he make his pupils learn the Four Books instead of the Book of Songs. This is proof that Chia Cheng wants to train Pao-yu to be an honorable and outstanding heir for the aristocratic family and maintain all of the conventions of the feudal social system and order.
The clan school is far from being a "model school." It turns out to be a hodgepodge where pupils of all kinds are enrolled—including the murderer Hsueh Pan and some other youths whose adolescent hormones are ripe and rampant.
One day, the principal, Chia Tai-ju goes home early on business, asking his eldest grandson, Chia Jui, to take charge of the class. It is not long until latent jealousies erupt and, within minutes, a scrimmage ensues between Chin Chung, Ming-yen, and Chin Jung. Then the whole schoolroom becomes a bedlam. At this point, Pao-yu threatens to report the whole affair to the principal unless Chin Jung formally kowtows to Chin Chung. Chia Jui has to force the offender to obey, and finally Chin Jung kowtows to Chin Chung.
This incident, centering around teenage homoeroticism, vividly captures the rottenness of the feudal education system and the purposelessness of many of the aristocratic descendants.
Chapter 10 describes how Chin Jung's paternal aunt, now Chia Huang's wife, learns about the scandalous behavior of the boys at school and how she vows to visit Madame Yu and Chin Ko-ching, intending to tell them about Chin Chung's behavior at school and vent her anger toward Chin Jung. However, when she learns about Chin Ku-cling's unusual and alarming illness and when she considers how politely Madame Yu and Chia Chen treat her, she swallows her anger and leaves in peace.
Dr. Chang Yu-shih arrives to treat Chin Ko-ching, and his diagnosis and prescription are uncanny. In detail, Dr. Chang implies in his explanations that Chin Ko-ching's failing health is a result of her lustful desires and her unclean relationship with Chia Chen, her father-in-law. Here is the proof of Chiao Ta's assertion that there has been some "scratching in the ashes." Koching's critical illness is a metaphor for her present condition and for the era itself, preparing us for her untimely death in Chapter 13.
