Snow Flower and the Secret Fan: Hair-Pinning Days: The Temple of Gupo Summary & Analysis

Lily's parents are happy to see her, but she struggles with the feeling that they lied to her for ten years. She rebels by refusing to engage with her family under the guise of shyness. After five days, Mama and Lily end up alone in the women's chamber and Mama calls Lily out on her pettiness, slapping her hard across the face. Lily holds her gaze angrily and grabs Mama's arm, pulling her down to her own level. She calls Mama a liar and brings up her lies about Snow Flower. Mama retaliates by blaming Lily for Beautiful Moon's death. Mama says that she gave Lily the life she now has because she personally bound her feet. Lily snarls that she won't expect kindness from Mama anymore, and although she'll be charitable to her family in the future, she won't forget this transgression.

Mama says she pities the Lu family for taking Lily, and the conversation is over. Lily says she softened to the rest of her family but remained distant from her mother, though she properly followed rules and customs outwardly. Lily says that she would later repeat this process of showing her emotions for a moment and then hanging onto her grievances, although the next time this happens it’s disastrous.

Snow Flower and Lily write each other often, although they can't visit each other. Lily travels to Tongkou four or five nights per year and watches the countryside go by from her palanquin. She describes Tongkou and the path she walks through the village to her married home. She spends her nights in her husband's bed, trying to conceive a son, but they don't see each other much otherwise. Lily’s mother-in-law is fair but strict, and Lily is willing to learn how things are done in her household.

Lily and Snow Flower meet for the first time since their weddings to travel to the Temple of Gupo. Lily doesn't want to talk about Mama or Snow Flower's deceit, so the two delicately discuss how they're trying to get pregnant. They make offerings and pray for sons at the temple.

Neither Lily nor Snow Flower becomes pregnant in the next year, so when they visit the Temple of Gupo again, their prayers and offerings are deeper. Lily begins to get funny looks about her potential infertility as the year goes on. Several months later, Madame Wang delivers a letter to Lily from Snow Flower, saying that she's pregnant. Lily is humiliated and jealous.

The next time Lily’s husband has sex with her, Lily holds him on top of her until he falls asleep. The next morning she initiates sex again and then stays in bed even after he gets up and goes into the kitchen. Lily expects admonishment from her mother-in-law, but when Lily finally emerges, Lady Lu and Yonggang are smiling. Two weeks later, when Lily is at her own home, she wakes up feeling ill and vomits. Aunt gets up to wipe Lily's face and smiles. Lily writes Snow Flower to tell her of the good news.

Mama is very strict with Lily and makes sure she eats only bland foods. Lily accepts the limitations, as she knows her worth is dependent on her baby. Lily's husband and in-laws are thrilled. They allow Lily to make a stop and visit the Temple of Gupo to pray for a son on her way to living permanently with them. Lily picks up Snow Flower on the way, and their baby bellies get in the way of a proper hug.

Pregnancy agrees with Snow Flower, and she looks radiant. When they reach the temple they enter proudly and compare their stomachs with the other expectant mothers. They offer poems written on fans to the goddess, and each steal a pair of baby shoes lined up along the altar. Lily explains that a woman who wants a healthy baby steals a pair of shoes, and when her baby is born, returns a pair of shoes to the altar. This is because in local dialect, the words for "child" and "shoe" are the same. Lily and Snow Flower eat at Old Man Zuo's stand to end the day.

Snow Flower and Lily stop at an inn that night to sleep. They lie in bed facing each other and put their hands on each other's stomachs. Lily can feel Snow Flower's baby moving, and Snow Flower says that she'll love Lily's son as much as she loves Lily.