Chapters 3–4 Summary

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Chapter 3

Shortly before Leila and Mason leave for their trip to New York, Mason has agreed to fix up his cousin’s car as a family favor with the help of his friend Zeke. Leila, Mason, Zeke, and Diana, Zeke’s girlfriend, all drive down to the cousin’s house on the peninsula to drop off the fixed car. Mason dislikes how anglicized his cousin is and becomes particularly affronted when he offers to pay Mason for his time and neglects to thank Zeke.

On the drive home, Leila reflects on why it is so hard for her to accept Mason’s marriage proposal. She is still plagued by an unanswered question: if she had been living in Chinatown’s Salmon Alley rather than in the Mission District with Mason, could she have had the conversation with Ona that would have saved Ona’s life?

Chapter 4

When Leila arrives at Salmon Alley to pack her things for her trip to New York, Mah is sitting in the dark. She gives Leila a cup of ginseng and complains that Leon started to put in fluorescent lighting at the Baby Store but never finished the job. Leila contemplates all the ways bad luck may have made its way to Salmon Alley. Leon believes that it was due to his broken promise: in exchange for securing him citizenship, Leon had promised Granddad Leong five thousand America dollars and that, upon his death, Leon would ensure his bones were returned to China. The bones have never been returned, and Leon blames all the misfortunes of his life on this broken promise.

Mah believes that she brought bad luck to Salmon Alley through her life choices—marrying Leila’s father, Lyman Fu, and her affair with Tommie Hom. Nina believes the bad luck is caused by the combination of personalities and culture that converges on Salmon Alley, and Leila wonders whether that was why Nina left for New York. On her way out, Mah hands Leila a jar of ginseng for Mason and asks Leila to drop a jar off for Leon at the San Fran Hotel. On their way to the airport the next morning, Mason and Leila go into the Baby Store and finish installing the fluorescent lights. The only thing left to do is snap the tubes into their sockets, and Leila is puzzled as to why Leon would leave the easiest part until last and then walk away.

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Chapters 1–2 Summary

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Chapters 5–6 Summary