We meet a six-year-old named Ralph Chang. He lives in the Jiangsu province of China, outside of Shanghai. His given name is Lai Fu, meaning "Come, Fortune!" and his father treats him severely. After a long, difficult childhood, he is a trained electrical engineer, but years of warfare have left their town extremely poor. He travels to the US to get his Doctorate, and when the Communists win in China, he realizes he has become trapped as an involuntary citizen of the US.
He becomes depressed. In New York, he is forced to take jobs where he must kill chickens. He sleeps in the park, and promised not to settle down, he realizes that he cannot return to his family. Just then, his own sister finds him on the park bench. Theresa immigrated long before him, and she helps him get on his feet. He meets her friend Helen, and they end up getting married.
Together this small, unique family continues through life constantly assaulted on all sides by racism and judgment. After WWII, it seems the Americans have lost their sense of humor for Asian people. They reflect on their treatment in the evenings at home. Ralph has not renewed his visa, though, and he is paranoid of the police. When they get a new car and a new TV, they find some joy and hope together, celebrating as they go.
Ralph admires his Chinese landlord who is a self-made millionaire named Grover. Grover takes him out to enjoy the finer side of American life, and at the end, when no bill comes, Grover explains that actually, he doesn't have to pay in this diner—he owns it. Ralph and his wife have two kids, Callie and Mona. They decide to pursue the American Dream and they buy a big house in the 'burbs. Although Ralph becomes successful, he cannot stop dreaming for a continually better life. One day, Ralph pays Grover for a franchise in a restaurant, and Grover starts creeping in on their family's time. Ralph loses himself to the hustle of American entrepreneurship, but Theresa leaves Ralph and Helen, who fight all the time. Ralph pushes his wife out of a window, and on the way to the hospital, he hits his sister with the family car. They move into a smaller apartment, and the women recover.
