The eternal tea party sequence, with comments on Fu serving as a pivot to turn the conversation back towards taste in women. In particular, there is a distaste for covering up coarseness with refinement which creates a dramatic irony insofar as Fu himself is doing this:
有時一個女人遠看很美，頗為可愛，走近了細瞧，才知道全是假的，長得既不好看，而且化妝的原料欠講究，化妝的技巧也沒到家⋯⋯今天听俠君的話，才明白她們跟槍炮一樣，放射力有一定的距离，這种女人，我一天不知要碰見多少，我恨死了她們，覺得她們要騙我的愛，我險的上當。虧得我生在現代，中國風气開通，有机會對她們仔細觀察，矯正一眼看去的幻覺。假使在古代，關防嚴密，惟有望見女人憑著高樓的欄干，或者瞥見她打起驢車的帘子。
Jianhou laughs at these comments, following. Does this indicate he knows what a hypocrite Fu is?
建侯笑得利害，不但嘴笑，整個矮胖的身体也參加這笑。
Next, Jiajun's standards:
我安分了，沒有奢望了，假如有可愛的女人肯大發慈悲，賞賜我些剩余的溫柔，我象叫化子討得殘羹冷炙，感激涕零。她看我一眼，對我一笑，或臉一紅，我都記在心上，貯蓄著有好几天的思量和回味。
Jiajun strikes me as trying to be honest...is he Bertie from Wodehouse?
那“儿”字隱躲在“明”字和“見”字聲音的夾縫里，偷偷的帶過去。
This line, I take it, reveals something of the author's attitude towards language.
To cap the sequence, we have a brief moment of Yigu alone, considering all that he has heard, and amplifying his own lust for Aimo.
After Yigu leaves the scene, the party goes on for a bit more. Jiajun applies a bit of gentle ribbing to Yigu's naivete. We also begin to learn a bit more about Aimo -- she fears aging.
In the next sequence, Yigu becomes even more obviously a tool in the power struggle between Aimo and Jianhou. Aimo steals Yigu from Jianhou, and Jianhou takes his vengeance, in a way that is too far. Jianhou's problem is his complete inability to stand up for himself at the time, which translates into a passive action later. The story is at its most touching when we realize that the big problem between Aimo and Jianhou is that they cannot communicate.
建侯到飯廳里，坐下來喝湯，一言不發，愛默也不講話。
Perhaps its related to see that when they do fight, it's in English, ostensibly so the servants can't understand? (Here we see clear signs of the comedy of manners from English entered into the writing, as well.)
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建侯覺得躺著吵架，形勢不利。
Shades of Noel Coward? In the ensuing fight, with great dialogue, we grow to appreciate Aimo's verbal ability. This puts us in mind of Jianhou's father's advice about combining cultures, and Jianhou's mistake.
Finally, we return to Yigu as he makes his move on Aimo. A really wonderful line:
一個十八九歲沒有女朋友的男孩子，往往心里藏的女人抵得上皇帝三十六宮的數目，心里的污穢有時過于公共廁所。
Made me think that the gesture of refinement on top of the coarse contains a message that language play is a refinement thrown over the coarseness that we all have in common. Yigu is able to recognize the coarseness underneath Aimo in the end, but is still no kind of hero, because he lacks the compassion to say anything useful to Aimo in her hour of need.
頤谷看見愛默哭了，不知所措，忽然發現了愛默哭的時候，她的年齡，她相貌上的缺陷都顯示出來，她的臉在眼淚下也象潑著水的鋼筆字，模糊浮腫。
The final, lyrical, sentence brings to mind how the conflicts and tensions have been passed down from 30 year olds to 20 year olds, and even younger. So the worst bits of humanity propagate, in short steps, and yet always with some hope for change.
這許多思想，攙了他手同看窗外風景的女孩子全不知道。她只覺得人生前途正象火車走不完的路途，無限地向自己展開。
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