Mrs. Spring Fragrance arrives in the United States for the first time to live with his husband who has been in the U.S. for a while. When she first lands in the U.S., she knows nothing about American language and culture. However, after she lives in the U.S. for five years, she becomes Americanized in both speaking and way of living. Mr. Spring Fragrance is a businessperson and his business is called Sing Yook, which is a medium Curio Merchant. Mr. Spring’s immediate neighbor is Ching Yuen family, which is Americanized but greatly observes the Chinese culture in almost every aspect. Mr. Ching has a daughter by the name Laura who he has arranged to marry a Chinese government teacher in San Francisco. According to the Chinese culture, there is nothing wrong to arrange for a daughter’s marriage but in the U.S., things are different. Laura was born and schooled in America. She has no clue on what the Chinese culture demands of her but focuses on what her American culture dictates. While schooling, she meets Kai Tzu and falls in love with him. However, she is aware that her parents have arranged for her to get married to a person she has not met in her life. She discusses this secretly with Mrs. Fragrance and urges her not to disclose to anybody that she is in love with Kai.
Laura is sad that the time for her arranged wedding with the Chinese government teacher is soon approaching. Mrs. Fragrance notes this and she does everything possible to cheer her up. She uses her American poetry knowledge to console her. She assures Laura that there is nothing impossible and if it was God’s plan for her to get married to, a man of her choice, nothing could stop it. During Mrs. Fragrance and Laura's discussion, Mr. Fragrance catches some of the phrases used by his wife to cheer Laura up. He later asks the young scholarly neighbor for an interpretation of some of the phrases that the wife used. The young man interprets the phrase and lets Mr. Spring understand that it is better to get married to a person you truly love than an imposed suitor.
Later, Mrs. Fragrance leaves for San Francesco to visit her cousin. Mrs. Fragrance is having a great time in San Francisco and she meets most of her American friends including Ah Oi whom she invites for a picnic. Mrs. Fragrance as well meets Mrs. Samuel Smiths who invites her for an American lecture. Realizing that she will not manage to get back to her husband in time, she decides to write him a letter explaining the reasons why she won’t return on time. On the other hand, she has good news for Laura upon learning that the Chinese government teacher is going to get married to Ah Oi. In her letter to Laura, she explains that nothing prevents her from getting married to Kai the love of her life. Laura receives this news with excitement and she could not wait to thank Mrs. Fragrance for her effort to ensure that all is well.
Back home, Mr. Fragrance comes across Mr. Ching Yuen and they start discussing American and Chinese traditions. They come to an agreement that things have changed and the American culture and way of living are far different from the Chinese traditions. For instance, they conclude that their children should be given opportunities to choose lovers of their choice as opposed to imposing to them arranged marriages. When Mrs. Fragrance returns home, Laura welcomes her with the good news that her parents are not opposed to her getting married to Kui.
