Xi-feng talks with Jia Lian about planning a proper birthday party for Bao-chai, who is turning 15 in a few weeks. Grandmother Jia loves Bao-chai and wants to celebrate her first important birthday with plays and a feast. Bao-chai, ever accommodating and polite, chooses plays and wine that she knows her Grandmother Jia will like. At the party, the family members watch plays into the night, and they drink wine and feast together. Aunt Xue, Xiang-yun, and Bao-chai are the guests of honor, as the only people outside the immediate family. Bao-chai teaches Bao-yu a bit about one of her favorite plays and recites the libretto for him, which he loves. The evening ends when Xiang-yun makes a joke at the expense of Dai-yu, admitting that the little boy actor looks exactly like her, all made up.

This joke causes problems for Bao-yu, who tries to stop Xiang-yun from hurting Dai-yu’s feelings to keep the peace. Both Xiang-yun and Dai-yu take offense to his actions, and Bao-yu ends the night dejected in his bed. He writes a little Zen poem before bed and finally falls asleep feeling satisfied at his “enlightenment.