The Good Earth

Wang Lung uses the gold to buy provisions as the family walks home. Along the way, he buys an ox. Their house is in grave disrepair because an armed band of brigands lived in it during the winter. Wang Lung learns that Uncle, after selling some of his daughters, disappeared.

Wang Lung’s neighbor Ching appears. He says his wife died and he had to sell his daughter to keep her from starving. Wang Lung gives him seed to start farming.

Wang Lung plants seeds and watches as the crops grow, knowing that he has enough money to feed his family until the harvest. His children play in the house, and his father sleeps at the door. Although everything seems right, Wang Lung goes to the statues of the local agricultural gods and offers incense.

In bed, Wang Lung feels a bundle between O-lan’s breasts. She shows him a pouch full of precious jewels. O-lan explains that she knew what to look for—and where—when she went inside the great house in the city. Wang Lung says that the jewels won’t be safe if people know they have them. The best thing to do, he says, is to use them to buy land.