A grandmother plays with her baby granddaughter. The grandmother laments that she was once carefree like the baby but learned to protect herself. She taught her daughter to do the same. The grandmother jokingly tells the baby that she must be the reincarnation of the Queen Mother of the Western Skies, wise enough to teach her how to stay safe while still able to laugh.

An-Mei worries because Rose does nothing to stand up for herself, despite the lessons An-Mei tried to teach her.

An-Mei recalls when she was a child and her mother returned and took her to live in the house where she was a concubine. Her mother tells her a story about a turtle who swallowed her tears, which turned into eggs that hatched magpies.

An-Mei is impressed by the huge, fancy house her mother lives in but finds that the life of a Fourth Wife is hard. Wu Tsing, the husband, returns with a new Fifth Wife. An-Mei’s mother’s already low status falls further.

The household is controlled by Second Wife, a manipulative woman whose power comes from having a son. Second Wife gives An-Mei a strand of pearls, which make An-Mei feel special. An-Mei’s mother later crushes one of the pearls, showing it to be nothing but cheap glass.