Eat a Bowl of Tea

As Ben Loy leaves the coffee shop, the dark streets of Chinatown seem to become menacing and unfamiliar. He has a vision of the rice paddies near Sun Lung Lay and struggles to separate the image from reality. He realizes that his father’s actions have changed the dynamics of their family’s relationships forever. He cannot bear to think about divorcing Mei Oi. He fantasizes about killing Ah Song.

At the apartment, Ben Loy tells Mei Oi about Wah Gay’s attack and confronts her about the affair. Mei Oi insists she loves him and calls her actions crazy. Ben Loy privately wishes the gossip would stop so they could return to their lives but feels emasculated by the affair. He leaves the apartment angrily and sits in the park alone, crying. When he returns home, Mei Oi falls to her knees and begs for his forgiveness. He embraces her tenderly and comforts her.

Chuck Ting visits Wah Gay at his hideout in Newark. Wah Gay apologizes for not telling Chuck Ting he was in trouble but refuses to follow his advice to turn himself in to police. Chuck Ting assures Wah Gay that he will not go to jail and asks him to sign a letter asking for an investigation by the Ping On Tong. Wah Gay signs the letter but asks for another day to decide whether to turn himself in.

George Dong, the English-language secretary for the Ping On Tong, visits Ah Song in the hospital. Ah Song understands that George and the tong leadership support Wah Gay and responds rudely to his questions. George suggests that Ah Song might have been mistaken when he accused Wah Gay. He encourages him to drop the charges, revealing that the police won’t prosecute Wah Gay if he does. Ah Song refuses, angrily demanding that George leave.

Chuck Ting calls the incumbent president of the Wang Association to call a meeting of the leadership. The next day, members of the Wang family come from across the boroughs of New York to attend the meeting. Chuck Ting relays the story of Wah Gay’s attack, and the group votes to draft a formal letter asking for the Ping On Tong’s support in defending Wah Gay against Ah Song.

At the Ping On Tong meeting, the letter Wah Gay signed in Newark and the letter from the Wang Association are both read aloud. Chuck Ting argues that Ah Song is a threat to the entire community and that allowing him to walk free effectively gives him and other men license to assault women and break up marriages. He asks for the tong to support Wah Gay and banish Ah Song from New York for five years. The tong agrees.

The tong’s Chinese-language secretary, Ging Fong, accompanies George Dong to Ah Song’s apartment. They inform Ah Song about the results of the meeting. Ah Song pretends not to have gotten the invitation, which he ignored. He is furious to learn he has been banished and throws the men out of his apartment. He wonders if he can remain in New York. The next morning, he withdraws the charges against Wah Gay.

Wah Gay is relieved to learn Ah Song dropped the charges but remains too ashamed to return to Chinatown. He decides to leave New York for Chicago and tries to give the Money Come club to Lee Gong, who refuses because he also plans to leave. Wah Gay sells the club for $4,000. He and Lee Gong share an emotional goodbye, knowing they probably will not meet again.

The shame of the scandal leads Ben Loy to quit his job. He finally confides in Chin Yeun about Mei Oi’s affair and his own impotence. Chin Yeun begins to visit the couple more frequently, bringing groceries and staying for dinner. He intentionally arrives early for a visit to be alone with Mei Oi, who is receptive to his flirtations. When he tries to hold her hand, she excuses herself into the kitchen. Shortly after, Ben Loy returns.

Ben Loy asks Chin Yeun to his apartment on an urgent matter. Chin Yeun worries that Mei Oi told her husband that he held her hand. To his surprise, Ben Loy announces that the couple is moving to San Francisco in just a few days. Ben Loy asks Chin Yeun to sell the apartment and send the proceeds to their new home. Ben Loy is energized by the plans and feels hopeful for a new life.

In San Francisco, Ben Loy uses his network of Chinese American army veterans to secure a job and an apartment. On his walk to work, Ben Loy passes an herbalist with a sign claiming to cure impotence. Mei Oi encourages him to see the herbalist. She feels profound gratitude for his loyalty after her affair. He is relieved that she still wants a sexual relationship with him. The herbalist prescribes a tea for Ben Loy.

Shortly after they arrive in San Francisco, Mei Oi gives birth to a baby named Kuo Ming, and the couple grows even closer. Ben Loy starts working as a chef, earning a significant raise. Their life in New York begins to seem like a bad dream. Ben Loy is happy except for his impotence, which continues despite the bitter tea prescribed by the herbalist. The herbalist tells Ben Loy he’ll know when the tea is working.

A few months after Kuo Ming’s birth, the couple celebrates with a small haircut party attended by their friends and Ben Loy’s coworkers. The couple’s fathers are not invited. Ben Loy is proud of his family and attracted to the confidence and sensuality that motherhood has brought Mei Oi. Although he struggles to initiate, Mei Oi takes the lead, and the couple successfully has mutually satisfying sex. Afterward, they resolve to invite their fathers to California for Kuo Ming’s next haircut party.