The chapter opens with a knock at the door. It's Cai-Li's mom, and she's been out of town for a long time. She's just fired the cook because her dad doesn't like the way she cooks. She wants to come back and cook dinner for her and her family every day since she hasn't been able to find anyone else to cook for her. Cai says she'll do it, but her mom won't let her do it. She says that Cai's health isn't good, and that she can't come back to the house because she has to go find her dad. She also says that her family has contributed so much to the big house that no one else would ever want to be a part of it. Cai chimes in that the other families don't have a lot of loyalty to their big house, since they've been working so hard all these years. She tells her mom not to be silly, and then she leaves to find her father. When she gets back, she finds a porcupine hole in the floor. She thinks it's a good thing she went so far to find the porcupines, because there's no way she can catch all of them herself. She asks her dad to bring her with him when he goes hunting for porcupines.