More and Better Questions for Chu Ju's House

1. On what kind of path does Chu Ju travel towards the graves on Tomb Sweeping Day?  Goat path
2. What animals are rooting among the pink blossoms?  Piglets
3. What is the occupation of Ba Ba (father)?  Doctor
4. What is planted beside each tomb?  A pear tree
5. Why is no tomb set aside for Chu Ju?  She would be buried wherever she moves to with her husband.
6. What did Chu Ju’s grandfather (Ye Ye) put in her dish?  Meat from his rice
7. What did Chu Ju and her grandfather use as fishing bait?  Grasshoppers
8. What does grandfather say about the river?  It’s not like a road.  It can take you to the sea and the sea to another sea.
9. What were the fishermen’s houseboats made of?  Bamboo and thatched straw.
10. What does grandmother (Nai Nai) place by all the tombs?  Red candles.
11. What does it say on the paper money that they burn?  THE BANK OF HEAVEN
12. What is Nai Nai’s opinion about Chu Ju?  That she is a worthless girl
13. What was Chu Ju’s school telling her about who to look to instead of ancestors?  The Communist Party.
14. How could a family be allowed to have a third child?  By paying a huge fine.
15. Why is Chu Ju’s dad a “barefoot doctor”?  He is supposed to be like the peasants.
16. What kind of medicine did Chu Ju’s dad practice?  Acupuncture, herbal remedies
17. How was Chu Ju’s dad paid?  With food (bag of rice, hen) or not at all.
18. Who assured Ma Ma that she would have a son?  The palm reader
19. What kind of game do the men in the tea house play?  Majiang, or a game with tiles
20. What does the mynah bird say that makes the men laugh?  “Go home, go home”
21. Whose stall is next to Ba Ba’s doctor shop?  A dentist
22. What clings to the walls of Chu Ju’s house because it is damp there?  Moss
23. What is on each page of the state calendar?  A slogan
24. How does Chu Ju feel about the scarecrow in her home garden?  She is scared of it.
25. What happens while Chu Ju waits for news of the baby’s birth?  She weeds the garden, gets drenched by rain
26. What does Chu Ju have to make for Auntie Tai?  Tea
27. Who is Auntie Tai?  The midwife
28. Why is the new baby thrust into Chu Ju’s arms?  So her mother can sleep
29. What name does Chu Ju give the baby?  Hua, or Blossom
30. What does Chu Ju compare the baby’s eyes to?  Black pebbles
31. What almost happened to Hua when Chu Ju left her under a tree to get water?  A vulture got very close to the basket.
32. What is on the cheek of the woman who will take the girl baby to an orphanage?  She has a mole with a long black hair in it.
33. Why does Chu Ju pinch the baby when the orphanage lady is there?  To make her not want a crying child
34. What word buzzes in Chu Ju’s head like tiny insects?  Disappear
35. What did Chu Ju’s class make to earn money for the school?  Silk flowers for export
36. What had students in another school been making that was dangerous?  Fireworks
37. Why does Chu Ju change her mind about heading for the city?  She had heard about girls being at risk there.
38. Why does Chu Ju fear Hua’s going to an orphanage?  Crowded, lack of food, adoption by foreigners.
39. What had Chu Ju been saving her money (yuan) for?  Blue jeans
40. Where does Chu Ju hide when she first leaves home?  In the netting of a fishing boat.
41. How is Chu Ju discovered in the netting?  She cries out when someone steps on her leg
42. How does Chu Ju convince the fishermen to let her stay on their boat?  That she can clean fish
43. What does Chu Ju’s name mean?  Tidy
44. What jobs does the woman on the boat (Yi Yi) give her?  To turn the fish on the drying rack, scrub the deck.
45. What does Yi Yi teach Chu Ju to make?  Knots to repair the nets
46. Why do the fishermen complain to each other about how poor their catches are?  So nobody will cast their nets in their “good spot”
47. Where do they put the innards of the fish?  Into the water; the gulls eat it.
48. How do the boys wash themselves?  Jump in the river
49. Where is Chu Ju told to go when the boat comes to a village?  Inside the hut (hidden)
50. What does Chu Ju teach Bo with her pencils?  How to make some Chinese characters/words
51. What do the boys secretly do with the trout that has rainbow colouring?  They let it go.
52. What happens when Chu Ju tells Yi Yi the truth about her running away?  Yi Yi will force her to go back home.
53. What does Chu Ju take with her when she leaves the fishing boat?  Jar of fireflies, dried fish, bundle of clothes.
54. What does Zhong do when he sees Chu Ju escaping?  He keeps quiet.
55.  Where is Chu Ju when she finds out about “Ji Rong”?  She is in a patch of mulberry trees.
56. What is the girl (Jing) collecting in a basket?  Mulberry leaves
57. Why does the girl roll up her sleeve?  TO show Chu Ju her bruises
58. What uniform is used among the silkworms?  White smock and white mask.
59. What will Chu Ju get working at the silkworm farm?  A bed and food
60. What does the woman from the silkworm farm tell Chu Ju not to eat?  Garlic
61. What is so loud at the farm?  The chewing of the worms
62. Who explains where Chu Ju can wash up?  Song Su
63. Why do the girls raise their hands when with the silk worms?  To show Yong that they are molting and making a cocoon.
64. What is done with the worms that have spun a cocoon?  They are sold to restaurants.
65. What new danger for girls is Chu Ju told at the worm farm?  Girls are sometimes kidnapped because there is a shortage of wives.
66. Why is Yong in a terrible temper?  She feels sad that her “beauties” (worms) are killed
67. What nickname do the girls have for Yong (behind her back)?  Mouth of a Thousand Serpents
68. What nickname do the girls have for Ji Rong (behind his back)” Biting Dog
69. Why does Yong end up paying Chu Ju after all? She says Chu Ju is just as worthless as they are, so she should get the same as they do.
70. What is hidden inside the New Year’s dumplings?  Coins
71. What family custom do the orphan girls and Chu Ju participate in?  Eating a whole fish together.
72. Why is Chu Ju dismissed from the silk farm?  Yong discovers that she has a pencil box and therefore had the know-how to write the letter to the orphanage.
73. What is Chu Ju surprised to find among her belongings?  The pencil box.
74. Why does Chu Ju approach the old woman in the rice paddy?  The woman looks so tired and Chu Ju offers to work for her.
75. How does the woman respond?  She refuses Chu Ju’s help but with a kind voice and a smile
76. What is odd about the young man planting the rice shoots?  He is almost violent with them as if he wants to drown them.
77. What were the old woman and the young man pulling at on their arms and legs?  Black leeches.
78. What does the old woman carry in a bag around her neck?  Salt
79. Why does Quan invite Chu Ju to stay?  He wants to go to the city (Shanghai)
80. What kind of letters would Quan send home?  Simple ones.
81. What does Han Na leave out that belongs to Quan, as a reminder of him?  His bowl
82. How is the amount of land measured in Chu Ju’s House?  In mu (1/6 of an acre)
83. Who could remember the time when all the land belonged to a rich man?  Han Na’s grandmother had told Han Na about it.
84. What was one of the rich man’s pets?  Tiger or monkey.
85. What comes to Han Na’s one month after Quan leaves?  A letter
86. What modern transportation does Quan mention in his letter?  Subways
87. Who does Chu Ju tell about her experiences in the village?  Han Na
88. Whose water buffalo ploughs Han Na’s rice paddy?  Ling’s
89. What about Ling’s face is different than the other characters?  He wears glasses.
90. What is in the basket that Ling brings to Han Na?  A bag of flour and 5 perfect peaches
91. What does Han Na think of fish in the rice paddy?  Nonsense
92. What is Chu Ju’s solution for the starlings that are coming after the rice?  A scarecrow and guarding the patch with a hoe.
93. What was done with the rice bran?  Feed the water buffalo
94. What was done with the rice straw?  Stuff into mattresses and make nests for the chickens
95. When Chu Ju is paid after the rice harvest, what two things does she buy?  Blue jeans for herself and candied ginger for Han Na.
96. Why does Han Na prepare a gift for the Zhangs?  She did not want to accept charity and so she felt she had to repay their gift of flour.
97. What is the gift they will give Ling’s family?  The fattest chicken
98. What makes Han Na say, “Now you are more a young woman than a girl”?  Chu Ju let her hair loose with no ponytail.
99. Why does nobody buy Ling’s sweet peaches at the market?  They are small.
100. How had Ling learned to grow fruit trees?  From pamphlets
101. Where is Ling’s shelf of books?  In the buffalo stable
102. Why does he keep them there?  So his parents will not see them
103. What does Ling say is China’s greatest book?  A Dream of Red Mansions
104. Why does Chu Ju feel sick when she gets a letter from Quan?  It says he is in jail and gives instructions that she must keep a secret from his mother.
105. To whom does Chu Ju go for advice about taking a train to Shanghai?  Ling
106. What bird has Ling tamed?  A hawk
107. What does Ling suggest Chu Ju do with the pheasant caught by his hawk?  Take it home for dinner
108. What does Chu Ju compare to a poisonous scorpion bite?  Taking the money from Han Na.
109. What is Chu Ju’s story if someone asks why she is traveling?  That she is going to look after her sick grandmother.
110. What kind of man sat beside Chu Ju on the train?  A greedy man who ate all his food and then took Chu Ju’s supper as well.
111. What did the smell of garlic remind Chu Ju of?  The silkworm farm where it was not allowed.
112. Why when Chu Ju arrives in Shanghai does she become afraid for Ling?  She finds out people can be jailed for telling the truth that the government does not want to hear.
113. Why does Chu Ju end up telling the old woman on the train the truth about her errand?  She knows the address Chu Ju showed her is a detention centre, not her grandmother’s house.
114. What does the city air smell like?  Rotten eggs
115. From where does Chu Ju send a short letter to her parents?  Shanghai
116. Why does Chu Ju like Quan less and less?  He forces her not to tell that he had been in jail and is selfish (eats her food, doesn’t care about the consequences of stealing his mother’s money)
117. Where does Chu Ju sleep the night when Han Na sends her away?  In the buffalo pen.
118. How does Han Na hear the truth?  Ling was not bound by the promise and he defends Chu Ju’s honour.
119. How does Ling know that Chu Ju is telling the truth about how she left her family.
120. What would be the benefit of raising fish in the rice paddy?  They eat weeds and mosquitoes; they can be sold for food.
121. At first, what does Han Na think is the best part of getting the tiny fish?  The plastic containers and basket they came in.
122. How does Chu Ju catch the fish?  With a net she made herself.
123. How does the population of fish threatened?  Birds come (herons, kingfishers)
124. What is the best news Quan shares in a letter?  He has a residency permit now.
125. What does Ling do with his books when he hears the police are asking about him?  Puts them in the manure pile.
126. What was the only evidence the police had about Ling’s forbidden books?  That he had mailed away for them; someone from the post office had told them.
127. What do Ling and Chu Ju eat when they spend time together talking after the work day?  Sunflower seeds
128. When Quan’s mother is dying, why does he end up taking the money he had sent her?  So he can get married some day.
129. What does Han Na mend with the last of her strength?  Her best jacket (to be buried in)
130. When did Han Na die?  The day Quan arrived in the city
131. Who chanted a sutra for the funeral?  A priest (Taoist)
132. What was the fire in front of Han Na’s house for?  To stop evil spirits.
133. What does Quan suggest Chu Ju do with the land?  Sell the lease and move to the city with him to become his wife.
134. Why does the official stall in changing the name of the lease?  He wants a bribe.
135. How does Chu Ju travel to see her family?  Bus and then riverboat
136. How is Nai Nai different?  Older, frailer
137. What is Nai Nai suspicious of?  Chu Ju’s nice clothes.  She thinks Chu Ju must be a thief of some kind.
138. What does Ba Ba want Chu Ju to do with her land?  Sell it and move back so they can buy more land where they are.
139. Why does Chu Ju not like this plan.  The land is hers and she wants to take care of it.
140. Who greets Chu Ju when she returns to her land?  Ling.