By this point it is safe to say that although May-ying has tried to be a good wife to Chan Sam, there are differing opinions about how life should be led. Chan Sam is very hardworking and likes to save his money with dreams of returning to China prosperous, while May-ying prefers the more exciting life in Canada, living beyond her means. May-ying and Chan Sam return to Canada with another child on the way, leaving the other two at home. A third daughter is born, and in part because of the harshness of life, more than ever the two adults are in constant disagreement. When the third daughter reaches school age, Chan Sam plans to return to China to bring her back for schooling, May-ying is able to convince him to leave them both in Canada while he goes back to China to visit his first wife and build the family a home to symbolize his prosperity. During this time May-ying quickly adjusts to life on her own, she is content sending money she makes at the teahouse back to China to support the construction of the home she will never see and not having to share her life with Chan Sam. At this point in the story, the portrayal skips from the viewpoint of May-ying to that of the third daughter, Hing. The story goes on to account Chan Sam's return to Canada several months later and after an unsuccessful attempt at co-habitation, May-ying and Chan Sam decide to separate. Although they may not be living together, it is May-ying's money that is supporting the family in Canada and at home in China. The book follows the destructive and unstable life that May-ying leads into mid-life, including her addictions to gambling and alcohol. Hing is often left to her own devices and is severely punished under May-ying's drunken gaze. Hing expresses thoughts of loneliness, despair and instability as she is shipped from town to town and home to home as her mother chases her lover. An adopted brother comes into the picture when Hing is just a child.
