Xing Xing’s mother died when she was seven. Her father, a master potter named Wu, died when she was 13. Both of Wu’s wives had their feet bound, but he rejected this practice for his daughters’ feet as he was from a southern region in China where foot binding was less common and because he liked that his daughters were able to assist him in his shop. For years, Xing Xing’s stepmother argued with Wu about binding her daughter’s feet because adhering to cultural beauty standards would improve the girl’s marriage prospects. She suggested that Xing Xing could be tasked with both girls’ chores, but Wu refused to disrespect his late wife’s wishes by treating Xing Xing as though she was inferior to Wei Ping. Soon after Wu died, the stepmother had Wei Ping’s feet bound.

On the morning the story begins, Wei Ping, now 15 years old, awakens in pain and sheds a tear. She moves about the family home by balancing her knees on two stools so that she doesn’t have to put any weight on her feet. When she catches Xing Xing looking at her bound feet, Wei Ping snaps, “No one cares about your feet [….] No one will find you a husband” (5). Xing Xing knows that Wei Ping’s remark is accurate because both of her parents are dead, leaving no one to arrange a marriage for her. When Wei Ping moans, the stepmother blames her discomfort on hunger and urges Xing Xing to cook faster. They all know that Wei Ping’s pain is caused by her feet even though “no one [is] allowed to talk about that” (7).

The stepmother gives Xing Xing a hunting cloth to wear around her waist and tells her to come back with meat for Wei Ping’s supper. Although Xing Xing isn’t a skilled hunter, she wants to succeed because she’s worried about her half-sister’s health. Lately, Wei Ping’s feet have oozed blood and yellow pus.

Xing Xing visits Master Tang, an affluent painter who was a close friend of her late father. An enslaved boy who works for Master Tang is good at hunting, but he’s not at home. The painter offers Xing Xing a sack of polliwogs in exchange for her help with one of his paintings.

Even though most children in Xing Xing’s area don’t receive an education, Wu made sure his daughters learned “the three perfections: painting, poetry, calligraphy” (12). Master Tang was their painting instructor. After Wu died, Xing Xing’s stepmother stopped the girls’ lessons because men generally don’t consider education a desirable quality in a prospective wife.

Xing Xing excels in calligraphy because she sought to please her father by learning the art form, and she practices at his gravesite daily. Master Tang’s latest painting depicts a pear tree, and the girl copies a poem about pear blossoms composed by his wife, Mei Zi, onto the picture.

Xing Xing frees the polliwogs that Master Tang gave her in the river. She looks for the boy who works for the painter in the forest, hoping to ask him to catch some quail for her. The boy has feelings for her, but she feels too busy with her responsibilities to think about romance. Whenever he does her a favor, she makes sure to do one for him so that there’s no expectations between them.

While Xing Xing is in the forest, she sees three blind raccoon kits that have been abandoned by their mother. Although the idea of killing them saddens her, she reasons that her half-sister needs meat and that “a swift death [is] more humane” than letting them be devoured by a predator (18). Xing Xing uses her hunting cloth as a sling and kills two kits. Distressed by the task, she sinks to her knees and calls out, “Stay with me, Mother” (18). She bundles the last living kit in her skirts and picks up the two dead animals.

Xing Xing returns home. Her stepmother begins preparing the dead kits for supper and proposes that they raise the live raccoon for food. However, Wei Ping asks to keep the wild animal as a pet instead. The stepmother is hesitant to deny her daughter’s request because Wei Ping spends almost all her time confined to a sofa-like piece of furniture called a kang.

Xing Xing goes to her father’s grave and tells him about the raccoon kits. Next, she gathers water from the pool. The carp swims into her pail three times despite her attempts to free it, and she takes this as good omen. The girl composes a poem about the carp’s beautiful red fins and golden eyes. Xing Xing carefully retrieves a bowl made by her father from the storeroom at the back of the family’s home. The occasional sale of Wu’s pottery provides the family’s only income. If the storeroom is emptied before Wei Ping marries, Xing Xing fears that her stepmother will sell her into slavery, where she might meet “the very worst fate for a female” (23).

The stepmother catches Xing Xing exiting the storeroom, and the girl explains that she’s trying to help Wei Ping. She places the fish in the bowl, which depicts a legend about brave carp that transform into dragons. Wei Ping is enchanted with the fish, and her mother gives Xing Xing a rare look of approval.

That night, Xing Xing sits outside the cave and reflects on her family history. Her parents both cherished her, and her mother called her “Sparkling One” because Xing Xing means ‘stars.’ Her mother’s dying wish was that her daughter would care for Wu “better than anyone else for the rest of his life” and listen to his final words (26). Her father honored his late wife’s final request even though this meant letting his child complete tasks, such as washing his hair and serving his meals, which would usually be done by his wife.

Over time, the stepmother had come to resent Xing Xing’s closeness with Wu. She began to cherish Wei Ping, whom she’d ignored previously. Although the stepmother subscribed to her culture’s belief that sons are worth more than daughters, she chose not to abandon her daughter at birth, a common practice at the time. Everyone had expected the stepmother to bear many children because of her strong physique, but Wei Ping is her only child. Remembering the expression of approval on her stepmother’s face when she gave Wei Ping the fish, Xing Xing hopes she can eventually earn a measure of love from the woman.