The following version of this book was used to create this study guide: Li, Lillian. Number One Chinese Restaurant. New York: Picador, 2018.

The novel is set in present-day Maryland, in a small city called Rockville. Jimmy Han is about 40 years old. He operates the Beijing Duck House, a restaurant founded by Jimmy’s now deceased father Bobby. Jimmy desires to open his own restaurant, and he enlists the help of a man called Uncle Pang. Pang has connections both to legitimate institutions and organized crime. Pang plans to burn down the Duck House so that Jimmy can use the insurance money to open a new restaurant. Jimmy vetoes the plan, but when he accidentally insults Pang, Pang moves ahead with the plan to spite Jimmy. Pang places flammable materials in a dumpster behind the restaurant, and he manipulates a 17-year-old boy named Pat into igniting the dumpster. The resulting fire burns down the Duck House. However, the insurance company refuses to pay until it is proven that Jimmy did not set the fire.

Jimmy concocts a plan of trying to sell the large house in which his mother, Feng Fei, is currently living. Jimmy’s older brother Johnny arrives, and Feng Fei is furious when Johnny soon sides with Jimmy. Feng Fei does her best to pit the two brothers against each other so that they cannot sell the house. Meanwhile, Jimmy and Johnny move forward with opening the new restaurant. Some of the employees at the restaurant are the same employees who worked at the Duck House. Such employees include an elderly man named Jack, a middle-aged woman named Nan, and Nan’s son Pat. (Pat is the one inadvertently burned down the Duck House. Also, several months ago, he was expelled from school for starting a small fire.) For years, Nan and Jack have been in love with each other, but they have not professed their love. However, Jack’s wife Michelle suddenly leaves Jack, so Jack and Nan begin to pursue a relationship with each other.

Feng Fei, still trying to prevent the sale of her house, contacts Pang and asks for help. Pang covertly meets with Jimmy and informs him of the exact circumstances of the restaurant fire. Jimmy and Johnny decide to turn the (technically innocent) Pat over to the police so that they can receive the insurance money from the restaurant fire. However, Nan then goes to Johnny and persuades him to try to help Pat. Johnny contacts Feng Fei and asks for help. Feng Fei agrees to help in exchange for complete control over her house and the soon-to-be-rebuilt Duck House. Feng Fei then contacts Pang, who secures a light sentence for Pat. Meanwhile, Jack proposes marriage to Nan, but she rejects his proposal. Nan has decided that she and Pat should relocate to California, where they can begin life anew, and where Pat can finish high school. Jimmy feels remorse for his various actions. His new restaurant is, at best, a middling success, but he tries to remain content with the new circumstances of his life.