The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane

After giving up Yan-yeh, Li-yan suffers both physically and psychologically. Her father, noticing that she is quieter than usual, interprets it as a sign that she is ready to get married and reminds her that it’s time for her “to start contributing to the increase of people” (109).

Four months after the baby is born, Mr. Huang returns. A-ba shows him his new hand-operated rolling machine that processes tea, for which he traded his best crossbow, but Mr. Huang wants his tea processed only by hand. Disappointed, A-ba abandons the machine “under the house with the pigs and chickens” (109), and Li-yan starts working as an interpreter again. This time, the tea is much better than before, and Mr. Huang takes it to Hong Kong where it will age.

Nevertheless, he still wants to buy tea leaves from Li-yan’s grove and promises to pay her a lot of money. Li-yan is about to go pick leaves when her mother, sensing something, warns her not to do it. Li-yan assures her that she would never show him the place, but she wants to make some money for her and