It is 2030. May lives in San Francisco now and is dying. Nick is also in San Francisco, and May follows him on his way to and from his job at a biotech startup each day. Eventually, he figures out who she is. The two return to May’s apartment, and she serves him tea. He looks at her quizzically and says, “So you’re the mad scientist” (269).

May recalls that one year for Mother’s Day, Lily gave her a watch. Clocks are considered unlucky gifts in China because they remind the recipient of mortality and the passing of time. When May immigrated to the United States, she hadn’t anticipated that there would be so many cultural differences between her and her American-born child.

The narrative skips back in time, and the following chapters chronicle May’s life from childhood. May grows up in an agricultural family in rural China, and she initially supports Mao and his communist project. She begins to doubt Mao when his campaign to kill all the sparrows that eat crops results in insect overpopulation, which leads to even more damaged crops. People begin to hoard food, and although she is young, she wonders what the future will hold for her country.