Shanghai Girls

After their release from Angel Island, the sisters travel to Los Angeles, where Sam meets them. Everyone thought they died when the Japanese attacked Shanghai, so no explanations for their delay are required. Old Man Louie grumbles that Joy is a girl instead of a grandson but doesn’t question her presence. The sisters are forced into a cramped apartment with Sam, Vernon, Old Man Louie, and his wife, who insists they call her Yen-yen (a diminutive for grandmother). There are also two other uncles who frequently eat with the family. The modest living arrangement indicates that Old Man Louie is hardly as wealthy as Pearl and May thought.

In terms of sleeping accommodations, May shares a room with Vern, who seems to have an intellectual disability, as he learns slowly and rarely speaks. Pearl and Joy share a room with Sam, but Pearl is still so traumatized by her gang rape experience that she avoids doing the “husband-wife thing” (137) with Sam. During the day, everyone works long hours in one of Old Man Louie’s various shops in the Chinese district.