The period of blissful freedom has passed Niang declares that her stepchildren are “not to invite any of friends home, or visit them in their houses” (25) and are restricted to only the third floor.

The rest of the siblings arrive in Shanghai, once again living “deep in the heart of the French concession” (23) in a beautiful three-story French style mansion. Ye Ye and Aunt Baba stay behind to close out their affairs, observe the hundred day mourning period of Nai Nai and take care of young Little Sister and sickly Third Brother. Instead of going on a short little outing with Ye Ye as expected, the children are whisked away by Father on a train to Shanghai with no time to say their goodbyes to Tianjin. Their paradise is interrupted by Nai Nai’s death, whereupon Father returns to take the rest of the family with him to Shanghai.įather’s homecoming is abrupt and unexpected no one but Ye Ye had been informed about his whereabouts and his children are incredibly surprised. He leaves, taking Niang and Fourth Brother with him, leaving the others in a blissful time of freedom. When the soldiers approach Father with a business proposal, he decides it's the perfect time to escape from Tianjin. The Japanese soldiers demand the Chinese behave subserviently or face dire consequences. No one is there to see Adeline receive her award.Īt this time, Tianjin is under Japanese occupation, a terrifying experience for all of them. Later that month, there is a prize ceremony at the school. When she finally arrives, she scowls and grows sullen, When she finally talks, it is only to quiz Adeline about her most recent school topics and slap her for not knowing something they haven’t been taught and screaming about how Adeline doesn’t deserve the medal she’s been wearing week after week. Each day after school, Big Sister takes her time getting to the rickshaw and appears to be proud of the fact that she can force Adeline and Ah-Mao to wait for her. Ah-Mao is a kindly character, but is “fiercely protective” (12) of the rickshaw and won’t allow anyone else to handle it. Because of Big Sister’s constant complaints about walking to school, they’re taken everyday by the rickshaw puller, Ah-Mao.

Adeline is still in school and at this time, she and Big Sister are attending the same missionary school. The story skips head a few months, and Tianjin is now in the middle of winter.

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