Chapter's 13 and 14

In chapters 13 and 14 the boys read more of Four Eye's books. The narrator had a dream about the Little Seamstress dying on her way to their house so he warned Luo not to bring her to their house until they could find a safer path. Later on the Little Seamstress' father came to stay with the narrator and Luo. Each night the narrator would tell stories about the Count of Monte Cristo, which was forbidden by the communist party. While telling the story one night, the narrator was overheard by the village headman. The headman told Luo that if he, being the son of a famous dentist, didn't fix his tooth, he would take the narrator to the Security Office for being a reactionary.


Chapters 15 and 16

In chapter 15 the boys and the tailor were forced to fix the headman's bad tooth. They were forced to do so because if they didn't fix the tooth, the narrator would be arrested for telling forbidden stories. The narrator powered the makeshift drill while Luo worked the drill inside the headman's mouth. The narrator intentionally ran the drill slowly in order to inflict more pain upon the headman. Chapter 16 was written from the old miller's perspective. His writing detailed his experience of watching Luo and the Little Seamstress swimming naked in a lake.


Chapters 17 and 18

Chapter 17 was about Luo's experiences with the Little Seamstress. He talked about how much he enjoys swimming with her and the games they would play while swimming. At the end of this chapter Luo received a telegram saying that his mother is very sick, though it is never revealed what exactly is wrong with her. Chapter 18 was written from the Little Seamstress' perspective. She gave her thoughts on swimming with Luo. She made it known that one day, while diving to the depths of the lake in search of Luo's keys, she was bitten on the hand by a snake.


Chapters 19 and 20

In chapter 19 Luo had left for the city to see his sick mother. He asked the narrator to watch the Little Seamstress while he was away. One night, after leaving the Little Seamstress' house, the narrator was attacked by a mob of young men who wanted to win over the Little Seamstress. In chapter 20, the Little Seamstress told the narrator that she was pregnant with Luo's child. The narrator went off in search of a gynocologist who would be willing to give the Little Seamstress an abortion. He bribed the doctor with a copy of a book by Balzac in order to convince him to give the Seamstress an abortion. The doctor agreed to do the procedure which turned out to be a successful one.


Chapter 21

In the final chapter, the boys set fire to their collection of forbidden books. My guess is they wanted to get rid of any evidence that they might be reactionaries. The Little Seamstress ran away to the city to start a new life of her own. In her final line she recited a line from Balzac, "a woman's beauty is a treasure beyond price." This leads me to think that she's leaving her old life behind because she now thinks that she is too good for the others because she is so beautiful.