Summary

In Chapter 5, on a break from work one day, Mei and Bee talk about their lives. Bee looks sad. She tells Mei that Pauly "wasn't a hero . . . He just lived. And then he died. And the work didn't stop" (227). She wishes she could have seen him before he was buried. She tells Mei she "planted a tree" on his grave (228).

Mei cuts Bee a piece of pie and tells her she is sorry. Then she tells her about her father's shrine. He lights incense and leaves offerings for the people in his life who died. Mei says he speaks to the ancestors because that was "how his dad used to do it" (231). He is carrying on a family tradition just as Mei will. Bee understands. She tells Mei her favorite ritual is sharing pie. Mei agrees.

Mei tells Bee "some of the Chinese workers...