- Everything is going exactly according to plan: Wang Lung's greedy uncle is gobbling down the opium. Even better, Wang Lung is going to become a grandfather. Things are looking up.
- Not so fast: of course there's trouble. There has to be. This time, trouble comes from Wang Lung first son and his cousin.
- Apparently, the cousin has been looking at Wang Lung's daughter-in-law again, and his son is not too happy about it. Of course the way to fix this is to go live in the great house. Because that worked out so well for the last people who lived there, right?
- Wang Lung is really bad at remembering that he has children. He only notices that he has a second son when that son asks if moving to the House of Hwang is a good idea. After all, he's not even married yet.
- Now Wang Lung has to find a wife for his second son. First he has to go check out the House of Hwang. Things are different there. Instead of the fancy gatekeeper and fine furniture, the great house is filled with regular people—and quite frankly, it stinks.
- When Wang Lung gets to see the inner courts and remembers when he married O-lan, he can't help himself. He buys the place on the spot.