Summary of chapter 6 alone

Ye Ye and Aunt Baba stay behind to close out their affairs, observe the hundred day mourning period of Nai Nai and take care of young Little Sister and sickly Third Brother. The rest of the siblings arrive in Shanghai, once again livind “deep in the heart of the French concession” in a beautiful three-story French style mansion. The period of blissful freedom has passed; Niang declares that her step-children are “not to invite any of [their] friends home, or visit them in their houses” and are restricted to only the third floor. Big Brother remarks that they have ceased to be individuals and “have become one single unit known as all of you.”

Adeline is excited to return to school, this time attending Sacred Heart (Shen Xin 聖心) Missionary School, but it doesn’t look like she’ll make it in time since her family has once again forgotten about her existence. Luckily, she’s able to catch a ride from the reluctant cook and makes it just in time. Afterschool, she is left lonely as well and with no one there to take her home, Adeline struggles to find her way in her brand new surroundings. Late in the evening, a kindly shopkeeper notices the lost little Adeline and shelters her in a restaurant until Adeline can phone home. Her family truly had forgotten about her existence and the only advice Father had to offer was to learn to read a map.