The Good Earth4

The reason that Wang Lung manages to get land for such a low price was that the great house has been experiencing considerable hardships. The lady of the house has died, the young lords has squandered their wealth, almost all the slaves have run away, etc. There were only two people in the great house when Wang Lung returned from the great city: the Old Lord and an old slave called Cuckoo, who will do just about anything to get a little money. She was the one who managed the sale of the great house's remaining land.
Wang Lung becomes quite prosperous through his land, and even hires workers to help out. He becomes aware that he can't read or write, so he sends his sons to school so they can read and write for him when he makes business deals.
Then, one year the fields are flooded, and Wang Lung can't do anything. He gets bored easily, and he goes to the village, where he finds a brothel run by the slave Cuckoo. He succumbs to the temptations of good food and takes a concubine. Wang Lung starts to realize that O-lan is not attractive to him, and he gets angry at her for this. "He stood there silent for a while and then he said to her roughly, and he was rough because he was ashamed and would not acknowledge his shame in his heart"
It is interesting to note the author's views about boredom. The author brings up the interesting point that boredom should be considered a major historical factor. Up to this point, the major conflicts in this book are starvation, sexism, and boredom. Boredom is not normally considered a major plot device, but the author makes good use of it.