The solution to the problem, according to the eldest son, is for the immediate family to move into town, particularly into the inner courts of the House of Hwang, knowing the effect this will have on his father. The mere mention of this great house causes Wang Lung to remember how he trembled and how he could barely talk the first time he entered. Now he ponders how he "could sit on that seat where the old one sat and from whence she bade me stand like a serf, and now I could sit there and so call another into my presence." Thus, Wang Lung's ultimate decision to move to the House of Hwang is not caused by his eldest son's wishes or the actions of his uncle's son, but because he feels greatness in a place where he once felt so completely subdued.
When Wang Lung consults his second son, this son is pleased the move will allow him to marry and move into the family home. However, the contrast between the two sons is again emphasized as the second son wants a wife who is completely different from the wife of the eldest son.
Astounded at his second son and also pleased with him, Wang Lung goes to look at the old House of Hwang and, upon inspection, decides to rent it. Now Wang Lung is rapidly approaching the position held by the Old Lord at the beginning of the novel — the head of the most powerful house of the province.
