Eat a Bowl of Tea

When Mei Oi meets her father for the first time at the New York airport, she does not recognize him from the photos she has seen. She awkwardly greets her father and new father-in-law. The long car ride into Manhattan worsens the motion sickness she experienced on the plane, and she is miserable when they arrive home. Wah Gay and Lee Gong propose another banquet among their Chinatown friends to celebrate the marriage of their children.

The narrative returns to the morning two months after the wedding when Ben Loy is woken by the sex worker’s visit. Ben Loy is reluctant to leave Mei Oi in the apartment but must go to work. Alone, Mei Oi cries and wonders why Ben Loy has stopped loving her. For the first two weeks of their marriage, they had an active and affectionate sex life. Now, however, Ben Loy is unable to make love to her. She tries to seduce him when he comes home, but he rejects her.

Wah Gay hosts an elaborate banquet to celebrate the marriage. Two hundred fifty people are invited, including family members from across the US. The banquet is partially sponsored by the Wang Association, a local tong, a Chinese American community organization run by the Wang family. During the banquet, a Money Come club regular, Ah Song, stares at and tries to get close to Mei Oi. Ben Loy, Wah Gay, and Lee Gong all drink heavily as they circulate among the guests.

On the night of the banquet, Ben Loy is determined to have sex with his wife and drinks heavily for courage. They kiss passionately at the apartment, and although Ben Loy tries to satisfy Mei Oi, he is unable to maintain an erection. Humiliated, he apologizes to Mei Oi, who suggests that he see a doctor. Ben Loy leaves her in the bedroom to sleep on the couch, wondering why he could perform with sex workers but not his wife. Mei Oi sobs in the bedroom.

Mei Oi soon tires of New York, which she feels lacks the intimacy of her home village. She is alone at home during the day with no one to talk to and is deeply disappointed in her husband despite his efforts to please her with gifts. She asks Ben Loy to let her work if they aren’t going to have a baby. When Ben Loy visits his father to ask if Mei Oi should work, Wah Gay also questions him about having a baby.

At Mei Oi’s insistence, Ben Loy visits a doctor in midtown. The doctor suggests that his problems are psychological and encourages him to take a vacation with his wife. Ben Loy initially rejects the idea but agrees at Mei Oi’s urging. The couple travels to Washington, DC, where they visit the White House and the Washington Monument. At the hotel, they successfully have sex. Back at home, however, Ben Loy is once again impotent. Mei Oi begs him to visit the doctor again.

As Ben Loy waits to see the doctor, he remembers visiting teenage sex workers in Calcutta and Hong Kong during his time as a soldier in World War II. He had a voracious appetite, sleeping with a new sex worker each night. He admits that he has had gonorrhea and syphilis multiple times, and the doctor prescribes medication. Ben Loy then visits a traditional herbalist, who recommends a course of herbal teas. Unsure of whether to mix medicines, Ben Loy sticks with the pills.

After two weeks, Ben Loy and Mei Oi are both anxious to see if the situation has improved. Mei Oi feels that if her husband remains impotent, she will essentially be a widow. Ben Loy assures her he loves her. When they cannot have sex, Mei Oi encourages him to fill the herbalist’s prescription. She carefully brews the tea for him, but nothing happens. Ben Loy refills the prescription, but there are still no changes in their sex life.

In July, eight months after she arrives in New York, Mei Oi is home alone when Ah Song, a regular at the Money Come club, stops by the apartment. Afraid to insult anyone in the community, Mei Oi lets him in the apartment. On learning that Ben Loy isn’t expected until midnight, Ah Song refuses to leave. He confesses his love to Mei Oi and begs her to marry him. When Mei Oi resists and asks him to leave, he rapes her.

Chinatown rent collector Chong Loo stops in a local barbershop. He tells his barber, Ah Mow, to bring his wife over from China; another man suggests that Ah Mow marry a young American-born woman instead. The men begin to gossip about Ben Loy and Mei Oi, questioning why she isn’t pregnant. Chong Loo reveals that everyone but Wah Gay and Mei Oi knows about Ben Loy’s past with sex workers. He suggests that Ben Loy’s past sexually transmitted infections have made him impotent.

Mei Oi and Ah Song begin a sexual affair. Believing his new wife would be happier in New York than Stanton, Ben Loy takes a job at a restaurant in the city. One morning in April, Mei Oi wakes feeling ill. Ben Loy takes her to the doctor, who takes blood and urine samples. The next day, the doctor calls with news that Mei Oi is pregnant. Ecstatic, Mei Oi calls Ben Loy at the restaurant to tell him the news. He coldly tells her not to call him at work.