The vegan irony
At home, Lindsey is expected to be more culturally Chinese than she feels, and at work, there is an entirely different cultural expectation that she also breaks quietly—to be vegan. She is not a vegan, but she does allow her company to believe she is vegan so she can keep her job, which is a good job. The dramatic irony about her meat-eating ways are a source of some complex emotional and moral conundrums, but mostly the irony underscores that she has to fit in in multiple cultures with mixed loyalty to all of them.
Dramatic irony and home
For instance, her friends probably would not guess that she remains as culturally Chinese as she does. She is very close to traditional Chinese culture because of her grandmother's undying loyalty to that way of life. Since they emigrated, her grandmother has been actively preserving the culture of their homelands, but Lindsey was actually born in California, so there is some dramatic irony between her friendships and her home. For her to have her friends come over and see her way of life would be a culture shock for the friends and for her family.
The grandmother irony
The question of dramatic irony is to ask of the grandmother, "What does she not know about Lindsey?" The answer is clear from her insistent attempts to set Lindsey up with a nice Chinese boy. Lindsey is not really very interested in preserving her Chinese heritage to that extent, nor does she feel particularly attracted to the boys her grandmother selects. This shows through irony that Lindsey is expected to desire what the grandmother desires. Of course, she has her own opinions and way of life, so the grandmother's wishes obscure her perception. Lindsey might even say she does not feel very well understood by her grandmother.
The "ABC" irony
Lindsey's loyalty to China and Chinese culture is further complicated by this situational irony. Lindsey calls herself an "ABC," which means "American-born Chinese." There is an irony here because this shows Lindsey's loyalty is only filial. She is not preserving her own point of view, which is more American than her ancestors, because she was born in California. Instead, she is obeying a sense of filial duty to preserve the identities of her forefathers, or in this case, her grandmother.
The trip to home
There is that guy whom Lindsey admires, Michael Cartier. Her relationship to him has emotional gravity that seems to be leading to one place, but then the story goes the opposite way. The gravity seems to be leading her to confess to her grandmother that she feels mostly American and not Chinese, or something like that, but instead, her grandmother takes her to China and shows her what China is really like. Now Lindsey's attachment to China is direct and personal because she has been there and has experienced herself in that culture. The plot twist preserves the complexity of her character.
