The Family Chao

A storm brings 14 inches of snow. James goes to the restaurant and tells Dagou that Alf ran away. O-Lan, the Chinese woman to whom his parents offered a job, is there. O-Lan has heavily accented English, so Ming steps in when a customer is trying to order takeout. The customer says O-Lan should go back to wherever they speak what she speaks. O-Lan spits into the man’s noodles, but when she sees that James witnessed this, she prepares a fresh order. Ming, who speaks Mandarin, deals with O-Lan.

Leo enters with his lawyer, Jerry Stern, who is white. James thinks “it’s as if Jerry has married into the family—he will never truly understand it, but he’s committed” (80). Katherine arrives to ask about decorations for the party, and James fixes her food. Katherine grew up on American food but has slowly learned to enjoy Chinese food. James thinks she is hungry for the culture of her birth. Katherine and Ming quarrel.

Ming answers a call from a woman named Chang—an ABC, he calls her (84)—who is searching for a piece of missing luggage. Leo takes the call and believes the bag holds the old man’s life savings, and Leo decides to keep it.