Mrs. Spring Fragrance is walking down her street, thinking about a book she would like to write about Americans for the benefit of her Chinese friends. As she walks, she sees her neighbor, Will Carman, walking down the street with a young woman. Mrs. Spring Fragrance hides behind a syringa bush so that she can observe the couple without being seen. It is obvious to Mrs. Spring Fragrance that Will is in love with this woman, which is a cause of concern since this is not the woman Will’s mother wishes him to marry. Mary Carman refers to Alice Winthrop, the object of her son’s affections, as the “Inferior Woman.”

Earlier, Mrs. Spring Fragrance agreed with Will's mother, but now that she has seen the couple together, she realizes Alice is good for him: “He is no longer a boy […] He is a man, and it is the work of the Inferior Woman” (14). She explains her change of heart to her husband, just before Mr. Spring Fragrance sees Will passing the house, and invites him in. Mrs. Spring Fragrance quotes a Chinese classic poem about the value of companionship. Will asks, “But if my mother has no wish for a daughter—at least, no wish for the daughter I would want to give her?” (15).