Vol. 2 is the "happiest" volume in the series. The poetry club is started and there is a lot of time sitting around the garden composing poetry and drinking wine and tea. It does start with the burying of the flowers, which is one of my favorite parts of the story. Bao yu starts off rather unbearable, totally over the top with his maids, shortly after feeling this is when Bao Yu is beaten by his father to within an inch of his life and this seems to have a good influence on him. Li Wan also stands out as an interesting character in the novel. As the classic good widow she comes across as young, intelligent and fun. Other highlights for this book include the infamous visit of Granny Liu to the garden, (which I have to say I really preferred the Wangs translation of) the reading of novels and Bao Chai's rebuking of Dai yu, Xue Pan being beaten up by the actor he thought was gay, and Caltrop's interest in poetry and inclusion in the garden. Definitely one of the most charming of the vols. Unfortunately also the one my teacher didn't have in Chinese and all the poetry really seems to loose a lot in translation.