Shanghai Girls

A few months after her arrival, Pearl is toiling away in one of Old Man Louie’s many businesses in China City. As the weeks pass, she becomes depressed with the daily grind, while May spends more time outside of Chinatown getting to know the city. She rebukes her older sister for not joining her. If they plan to escape one day, they will need to know the lay of the land.

Later in the summer, the city sponsors a grand opening for the New Chinatown. Pearl thinks, “People say that the opening of these two Chinatowns is the beginning of good times for Chinese in Los Angeles. I say it’s the beginning of hard feelings” (151). There will be more business competition now. Pearl worries that the sisters will never be able to scrape together enough money to get away.

Pearl begins to long for authentic Chinese cuisine, but Yen-yen is a terrible cook. During her restaurant shifts, Pearl asks the uncles to teach her some simple dishes, and she begins preparing meals for the family. Though he won’t admit it, Old Man Louie likes her cooking. On Christmas Day, everyone gets a day off, and Vern announces that he wants to go to the beach. He displays a wad of cash as a gift for May, Pearl, and Sam, so they take the baby and spend the day at the ocean.

When Chinese New Year arrives, Old Man Louie demands that Sam pull a rickshaw. The old man’s Golden Rickshaw rides are popular with tourists, and he usually hires Mexican pullers, but he is short-staffed. The competition with New Chinatown has grown fiercer, and Old Man Louie is determined to attract more business. Sam refuses to pull a cart. The two men get into an argument, and Sam rebels. He abruptly leaves for home, with Pearl following.

In their cramped bedroom, Sam explains that he isn’t really Old Man Louie’s son. He is a paper son, referring to a workaround that Chinese Americans use to evade immigration laws. When an American-born Chinese person goes back to China and returns to America, he claims that a son was born in China. American Immigration issues an identity paper for the child because he is technically an American citizen. The birth is a lie, but the paper holder can sell this citizen status to someone in China years later. This is how Sam arrived. He really comes from a family of rickshaw pullers, which is a lowly occupation in China.

After Sam recounts the story of his real family’s many tragedies, Pearl feels sorry for him and confesses her own gang rape incident. She decides never to tell Sam that Joy isn’t his daughter. He doesn’t seem to mind that they can never have a son of their own because of Pearl’s internal injuries. Instead, he suggests that they can arrange for a paper son later. Feeling united in grief, the two finally make love, though Pearl confesses that she will never be particularly fond of the “husband-wife thing.”

Later that night, the family learns that a fire has started in China City that burns many businesses, including Old Man Louie’s shops. It takes months for repairs to be made. In the meantime, the sisters have more free time. May talks Old Man Louie into letting her become a movie extra. She idolizes film star Anna May Wong and aspires to be like her. Later, this movie job evolves into May acting as a translator for other Chinese film extras. She is even able to get small parts in pictures for baby Joy. Although Old Man Louie protests, he doesn’t object to receiving a cut of her pay.

One day, Yen-yen accidentally tells Pearl that Old Man Louie wasn’t born in America. This means that everyone’s immigration status is at risk. Pearl, May, and Sam confront the old man, and he admits the deception, but he also is aware that the young people are planning to run away. He says that everybody now knows each other’s secrets. He convinces Sam, Pearl, and May to stay, promising to leave everything he has to Sam if the latter will take care of his real son Vernon after he dies. By the time this incident occurs, the sisters have been in America for 20 months and are adjusting to their changed circumstances.