The Good Earth 6

Wang Lung suddenly notices that O-lan is ill and in pain. He calls a doctor, who tells him that O-lan is dying. O-lan "lay dying on her bed for many months" before she said that she wanted to see her son married before she died. Wang Lung sends a messenger south to get his son to come back. O-lan is pleased to see her son's wife perform the proper subordination rituals at the wedding, and dies shortly after. Wang Lung's father dies the next night, and Wang Lung properly honors both of them.
This year, there is a terrible flood, and even Wang Lung has to be very careful about wasting food, even though he is the richest of the villagers. He keeps his gates barred against people who would want food or money from him during the flood, but "Well did Wang Lung know that if it had not been for his uncle's power he would have been robbed and sacked... So he was courteous to his uncle." However, his uncle's greed would have ruined him, and he had to do something. So, consulting with his son, he decides to give his uncle opium, in order to keep him under control.
During this time, Wang Lung betroths his second daughter to the son of a merchant in town. He also buys a slave to take care of Lotus. He also begins to think about the betrothal of his second son.
The opium keeps Wang Lung's uncle under control, but the uncle's son cannot be controlled, and Wang Lung desperately needs to get away from him. He decides to buy the great house in town.
It is interesting as the reader gets farther and farther into the novel, how the author's writing style seems more and more simplistic. The author seems to just throw a bunch of events into some sort of cohesive order and then shows how they continue to affect the characters later on.