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.
